


AdOPteD

by lonely_no_more



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Family, Mental Health Issues, Schizophrenia, toddler!Annie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonely_no_more/pseuds/lonely_no_more
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They hadn't been expecting to find a little girl in the park. They hadn't been expecting to actually adopt her and raise her as their own, while simultaneously figuring out that children do cause a difference in a relationship. Ymir and Christa just wish that someone had warned them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Found on the imagineyumikuri tumblr. I'm trying out a new style, so please bear with me while I figure it out.

"Why the hell did you wanna go for a walk in the park today, of all days? It's cloudy, it's windy, it's starting to get cold..." Ymir goaded. She grinned down at her girlfriend and nudged her lightly, getting a squeak of protest. "C'mon, let's head back. It's fuckin' freezing."

"Oh, it is not. You're so melodramatic!" The blonde girl headbutted Ymir's chin, causing the taller girl to groan and clench her jaw in pain. "I felt like going for a walk. You have work tonight and I have school tomorrow. I thought we could enjoy a little time outside together."

Ymir rolled her eyes and quipped, "We have a balcony. We could enjoy some time outside there." Her arm tightened around Christa's shoulder as they made a turn on the walking path. The path itself wound through the tiny forest the park kept. During the spring and summer, couples and families could be found scattered throughout on benches and small picnic areas. Ymir frowned, noticing something beside one such bench. "What the fuck is that?"

As they drew closer, the blonde gasped, "It's a little kid! Oh my God, Ymir, what if they're lost?" Christa blinked back her surprise, staring at the figure huddled beside the park bench. She approached slowly, kneeling down to look into a pair of bored looking blue eyes. "Sweetheart, what's your name?" When no answer came, Christa held out a hand and smiled softly. "I'm Christa."

"Annie." A small hand slipped from the hoodie sleeve and grasped Christa's fingers firmly, giving them a small shake. Just as quickly as the hand appeared, it slipped back into the sleeve and was shoved in the hoodie pocket. From beneath the hood, pale blonde hair fell messily over one eye and a mistrustful sort of air surrounded the child.

"Ok, Annie. Uhm...where are your parents?" Christa glanced back at her girlfriend, Ymir, who stood on the walking path with a frown. Shrugging slightly, the seventeen-year-old turned her attention back to the girl. "Do you know where they are?"

"I don't have a mother," the child announced. Her steady gaze fell when she added, "And father hasn't come back."

Eyes widening, Christa questioned, "How long has it been since you saw him?"

Annie calmly held up two fingers and began to uncurl from her fetal position against the side of the bench. "Two days. Father told me to hide." Her jeans were ill-fitting on her tiny frame and the grey hoodie she wore was far too big. "He said that all the people were my en'my."

Ymir's frown deepened and she muttered, "Hey, kid, what else did your dad tell you? Are there monsters?"

"Humans. Humans are monsters," Annie mumbled. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the imposing figure.

"Christa, maybe her dad is schizophrenic. That would explain why he says there are monsters and that everyone is the kid's enemy..." Ymir ran a hand through her dark brown hair, brushing a few strands back into place. It was windy and summer was quickly receeding into fall. The taller female said, "We should probably take her to the police station. See if they'll contact child services or someth-"

"No! I don't wanna go there again," snapped the little girl. She looked at Christa and slowly shook her head.

Looking back at her girlfriend, Christa suggested, "Why don't we take her?"

"Wait, what? Are you nuts? We can't take care of a kid!" Brown eyes grew wide with disbelief."I just graduated high school! And I have a night job. I sleep most of the day until it's time to go to work."

"You do not sleep most of the day, Ymir. When I come home from school, you're usually playing video games or watching movies," scolded shorter teen. Turning her attention back to Annie, Christa held out her hand again. "How about it? You can come stay with us. And we'll come here every day to see if your dad is here. So you can go home. Ok?"

There was a tense silence that began to permeate the air as the teens waited for the toddler's answer. Annie reached out and placed her hand in Christa's; she softly said, "Ok."

==

As the trio entered the little apartment, Christa kicked off her boots and set the toddler down in the small entry. "Ok, Annie. It's not much but this is home." She hung her jacket on one of the hooks and smiled, taking the little girl's hand in her own. "C'mon. Let's go get something to snack on."

Annie smiled and nodded, following obediently alongside the older girl. Ymir, on the other hand, kicked off her sneakers and went promptly to the couch. As she plopped down, she glanced in and saw the two blondes looking into the fridge. "Hey, babe?"

"Yeah?" Christa looked up, still smiling.

"What are we gonna do about sleeping arrangements?" The seriousness of the matter had struck Ymir and she saw it dawn on her diminuitive girlfriend. "We only have one bedroom right now."

"I can sleep on the couch." Annie looked up at her new guardian. "I don't mind."

"Oh, Annie, I couldn't possibly think of letting you. You can take the bed at night. I'll sleep on the couch," the seventeen-year-old offered. She hesitantly reached forward and brushed a hand through the soft strands of hair that covered half of Annie's face. "And when Ymir comes home from work in the morning, you and I will hang out in here until I have to go to school. Will you be all right until Ymir wakes up?" The four-year-old nodded. Christa grinned and chimed, "Great. What kinds of things do you like to do?"

"I like to draw." The boredom that had once dominated her expression was beginning to slip and a hint of interest had replaced it. "And-" She looked over her shoulder suspiciously at Ymir before cupping her hands around Christa's ear and whispering, "I like reading stories about knights and big adventures too." She paused and whispered even lower, "And princesses."

"I do too," Christa agreed, "those are the best, huh?" Annie nodded. Screams and the sounds of swords clashing suddenly erupted in the air and the two blondes snapped their attention to the TV. "Ymir, are you serious? You're watching 300 right now?"

"What? Kid's gotta learn about war and death sometime, right?"

"My name is Annie."

Brown eyes met two pairs of blue and Ymir groaned, clicking the remote and changing the channel. "Fine." She glanced at her cell phone and swore to herself. "I gotta go start getting ready for work."

When Ymir had left the room, her girlfriend looked down at her new charge and muttered, "Sorry about that. Ymir is actually very sweet. She just...takes a little getting used to." Annie nodded in understanding and held up the orange she had chosen. Christa smiled warmly and nodded back. "Right. Snack time."

==

Tying on her boots, the brunette looked over her shoulder when a light touch ghosted her back. Christa smiled softly at her and knelt, giving her freckled cheek a kiss. "Have a good night at work, ok?"

"Yeah, I'll try. Can't promise anything. I'm managing the floor tonight because Levi is off again." She paused, feeling something push between her side and Christa. Annie sat, arms around Christa's legs, glaring at the brunette. "Oh, for the love of- fine. I'm going. Later, kid." Standing up to full height, Ymir bent and kissed her girlfriend softly on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, all right?"

"All right, love," giggled the seventeen-year-old. While Christa made dinner, the younger blonde sat and sketched on the pieces of notebook paper that her guardian had left for her. Setting down a plate of macaroni and cheese, the teenager smiled at the landscape that the girl had drawn. "That's really good, Annie. You should take art classes when you get in school."

"When will I go to school?"

"Probably next year, when you're five. Maybe six. It depends on when you're ready," Christa replied. Annie and Christa settled onto the couch with one of the older blonde's old story books. Christa was leaning into the corner between the back of the couch and the arm, legs crossed with Annie sitting in her lap. The book was laying across the little girl's thighs. "Do you have a favorite story?"

"No. I haven't found one that I like hearing over and over," stated Annie. She glanced back up at her guardian and asked, "Do you have one?"

"I do, actually," giggled the seventeen-year-old. She gently grabbed the book and shut it, setting it aside on the coffee table. With that, she slid her arms around the tiny blonde's waist and hunched over, saying, "It's a story that Ymir told me. She came up with it herself." Christa paused and grinned. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a far off land, surrounded by a towering forest. Her father forbid her from ever leaving the castle because he believed that there were monsters in the woods." Her grin fell into a soft smile as she continued, "And the princess simply obeyed, never thinking for a second that her father was wrong. Then, one day, a strange girl came to the castle. She said that she was from the forest and had come to their village, seeking a truce with the king. He said he would consider the offer and bade her to stay in the castle for three days while he came to a decision."

"Bade?"

"Commanded or ordered," Christa clarified. "On her first day, the girl met the princess. The princess thought that the girl was strange and came up with all sorts of games and small sports to play so that they could pass the time. The princess found herself trying even harder to do better when faced off against the girl. They played off of each other and found themselves at a tie when it came down to the end of the day. As she went to bed, the princess found herself respecting the strange girl. The next day, they sat and talked. The strange girl was not one for words but found herself conversing with the princess just as easily as breathing air. At the end of the second day, the princess found herself liking the strange girl. On the third day, the king called the strange girl back and told her that he refused her terms. He called her a monster and ordered his men to capture her."

Annie's eyes widened in shock. "What happened? Does the princess know?"

Christa smiled again. "The girl fled the castle but not without going to see her friend one more time. The princess cried and begged to know what was happening but the strange girl just smiled and told her to wait. She would be back. Days and days passed but there was no sign of the girl. The princess spent her days sitting at the window, waiting for her friend. Then, one day, there was a terrible roar that made the very walls tremble from the force. A great monster had stormed the castle and was tall enough that it stood at eye level with the princess in her tower. As she stood, looking at the monster, she saw it smile and raise a hand. But as she looked in its eyes, she realized it was no monster at all. It was her friend. And she had come back. Overjoyed, the princess ran to her friend and leaped out the window to land in her friend's open palm."

"The strange girl really was a monster?"

"Just wait," giggled Christa. She hummed softly before adding, "They ran off to the forest. As they ran, the princess looked and saw that her friend was happy amongst the trees. Eventually, they stopped and her friend shrank back down to the way she looked when they had first met. The girl hugged the princess and took her by the hand, leading her into a tiny village. The girl said it was her home and showed the princess around. Everything and everyone looked as if they were from any other place in the kingdom. The girl explained that they only changed to protect themselves and find food. But the king had seen them and declared them monsters, banishing them from the kingdom and sending them into the forest. The princess was horrified at her father's actions and asked if she could stay in the village with the girl. For several weeks, they stayed in the village and it was peaceful. Day by day, the princess and the girl found that they worked well together and spent many hours talking and laughing. After a time, the princess came to realize that she loved the girl. On the day she decided to finally tell her friend, a loud noise filled the forest. Her father's men had come looking for her."

"But the princess! She was gonna tell her friend how she really felt!" Annie exclaimed. The two blondes had shifted and Annie sat on Christa's stomach as the older girl reclined on the couch.

"The strange girl got ready to turn but the princess stepped forward and confronted her father. He stood at the head of his men and demanded that the princess come back. The princess looked at him and asked if he remembered the promise that he had made her. He nodded and watched as the princess walked up to the girl and kissed her. Turning back to her father, the princess said, 'I'm home.' Dejected, the king tried to plead with his daughter but she refused. Her home was with the strange girl. And where the girl went, the princess went. And they lived happily ever after." Christa smiled up at the four-year-old and asked, "Well?"

Annie shuffled and rested her head on the older girl's chest, giving a quiet yawn. "I really like that one." Her eyelids began fluttering, trying to close and find rest. "I don't wanna go to sleep yet."

"But you're tired," Christa whispered softly as she sat up with the girl in her arms. As she stood and made the short trip to the bedroom, she received only one soft protest before Annie fell asleep and curled up in the center of the bed.


	2. Laundry, movies and Spaghetti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ymir and Annie spend a day getting to understand one another. And in some aspects, Ymir is less than successful.

_A/N: Aaand, finally getting another chapter up. God, I hope this is good too X <_

[X]

Ymir grumbled as she sat up from the bed. As she looked at the clock- and saw that it was nearly noon- she noticed that the bedroom door was slightly ajar. Getting up, Ymir muttered, "Dumb kid...wh-" The tall female pitched forward, feeling something tangling around her feet. Ymir snarled, glaring back at the obstruction that tripped her. A pile of clothes that she could have sworn were in the laundry room were set up right outside of the bedroom door. "That....kid.... _Annie_!" The brown-haired woman shot up and headed down the hallway, shouting, "Where are you?" She rushed into the small family room, whipping her head around and searching for the little four-year-old. "Where the- _how did you get up there?_ " There, on the top shelf of the floor-to-ceiling bookcase, Annie was propped up and toying with a Rubix Cube.

"How do you get all the colors separate?" mumbled the diminuitive blonde. She looked down at the seething woman. "What?" Her blue eyes were still half-lidded in a seemingly endless boredom as she stared at her guardian.

"This is the _third_ time this week. Are you trying to break my neck?" Ymir reached up, grasping the girl by the back of her hoodie and setting her down on the ground. She looked at Annie, glaring at the child.

Seemingly nonplussed, Annie asked, "What?"

Eyes narrowing, the brunette growled, "The _pile of clothes outside my bedroom_. I keep tripping over them and I _know_ that Christa doesn't leave shit laying around like that."

"Oh. Those." Annie resumed her twisting of the cube.

"Yes. _Those_. So what's the big idea?" Ymir's hand clamped down over the child's and halted the puzzle. Once Annie's attention was back on her, the tall woman grumbled, "Seriously."

"I just don't like you," the little girl replied simply.

At that, Ymir raised an eyebrow. "You've been living with us for three months and you still don't like me?" When Annie nodded slowly, the freckled teen grimaced. "Any particular reason why?"

Annie snatched her hands and the Rubix Cube away as she muttered, "You're mean and you hog Christa." She stuck her tongue out at her guardian and bolted away, ignoring the shout of protest. The little blonde screamed back, "I want her to myself sometimes too!"

"You get her to yourself in the evenings when I leave for work and in the mornings when I get back and go to sleep!" Ymir retorted as she looked for the girl. Hide and seek was nothing new, seeing as she played it enough with Christa. She stopped at the beginning of the short hallway and looked at the individual doors, looking for an anomaly. "C'mon, brat, get back out here." The bathroom door was closed when, normally, it was wide open. She crept towards the door, hearing the shower curtain rustling and tiny feet padding around. Ymir waited a minute before she entered and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, so she went and looked in the bathtub/shower combo. No Annie. She looked around the toilet and the towel rack to no avail. Suddenly, she heard something fall over and whipped her head around to the cabinet below the sink. The brunette opened the doors to see Annie huddled in the far corner, holding the Rubix Cube in her tiny hands. "C'mere, kid."

Annie's eyes narrowed and she ducked as far into the cabinet as possible but was still captured in Ymir's arms. "No! _Noo!_ " The four-year-old kicked and squirmed, hitting her guardian a few times in the head with one of the flat sides of the Cube. She blinked when she was set down on the couch.

"Stay there for a second." The older female got up and went to get dressed. When she returned to the living room, Annie was still sitting on the couch, staring at the Rubix Cube in her hands. Her face was crestfallen, almost like an abandoned puppy. "What's wrong, kid?"

"Are you gonna tell Christa I was bad?" The four-year-old looked up at Ymir with, what the brunette suspected, was an honest fear of punishment.

Sighing heavily, the tall woman groaned, "No. Just help me with the laundry. You carried it into the hallway, you can carry it back to the laundry room. And then, when it's all dry, you can help me fold."

The blonde girl looked up, daring to look hopeful. "And you won't tell Christa?"

"And I won't tell Christa," agreed the freckled woman. She smiled when the girl hopped off the couch and set the Rubix Cube down, thankful that it was not going to be used as a weapon yet again. Ymir watched carefully as Annie padded down the hallway to the pile of clothes, grabbing as many as possible in her little arms and carrying them to the laundry room. She came back out to grab yet another armful. Ymir grabbed the last remaining articles of clothing and followed the little blonde. As she put the load in the washer, the teenager noticed that Annie had left the room. "Annie? Where are ya, kid?"

Annie popped out from the kitchen and said, "I'm hungry."

"Oh, right. Lunch." Ymir scratched one freckled cheek as she looked into the fridge. She knew exactly what she could make. And that was sandwiches. No amount of home economics had helped her learn how to cook. But that might just be because she kept falling asleep in class. After a minute or two, the pair had decided on the sandwiches they wanted. Wordlessly, Ymir handed a turkey sandwich with lettuce and cheese on it to the four-year-old and made much the same for herself while adding mustard. "Let's go see what's on TV." They mindlessly flipped through the channels, passing over numerous talk shows and a couple crime shows. Eventually, the brunette looked at the girl and motioned with her hand. "Christa has some movies over there that you might like. They're on the bottom shelf."

The blonde slid off the couch and promptly seated herself in front of the cabinet, looking through the various titles. After a couple minutes, Annie got up and walked over, presenting it to her guardian. "This one."

Grabbing the DVD, Ymir popped it in and snatched the remote; she silently thanked whatever power there was that Christa kept an assortment of kids' movies around. "I haven't seen this one since last year, oddly enough."

"Why?"

"Christa cried last time." It had honestly been an honest mistake on Ymir's part. She hadn't known that _The Lion King_ was Christa's favorite movie when she was a little kid and she hadn't known that when Christa was six, she had a kitten named Simba. So, when it looked like Simba was dead-

"Does something really sad happen?" Annie questioned. Seeing the confused look on Ymir's face, the blonde mumbled, "What?"

"You've never seen this?"

"No. We didn't even have a TV. I don't remember having one, anyway," replied the little girl. "Father didn't like them very much. Said things about them spreading the wrong message. Making humanity evil." She fell quiet as the movie started and watched, wide-eyed, as the opening song drew to a close. Annie seemed mesmerized by the story and watching Simba's journey. But Ymir didn't make it very far.

[X]

A gentle pressure shook Ymir's shoulder and she grumbled, realizing that there was another pressure on her chest. She opened her eyes wearily, looking up to see Christa smiling at her. "Hey.."

"Hey! You two look awful comfy," teased the teenaged blonde. She grinned at the sight, seeing Annie sprawled out on Ymir's chest and sleeping peacefully. Gently, Christa scooped the four-year-old into her arms and greeted her, "Hey, Annie."

The soft little yawn that came from the girl's mouth almost made Christa smile wider but she suppressed it. Annie muttered sleepily, "Hi, Christa..." She balled her hands into little fists and rubbed tiredly at her eyes. Christa held the girl closer, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "When d'we eat?"

"Well, dinner is ready right now. I made it while you two were napping," explained the older blonde girl. She ran a hand through Annie's soft hair and pressed yet another kiss to her forehead. "How does spaghetti sound?" When the little girl nodded sleepily, nestling her head into the crook of Christa's neck, the teenager smiled and carried the girl into the little kitchen and sat down with Annie in her lap. Christa nudged the child gently, whispering, "Are you awake enough to feed yourself?" There was another slow nod as Annie raised her head and shifted to face the table, grabbing her fork and clumsily eating the noddles.

Ymir staggered in, running a hand through her messy hair. At the sight of Annie sitting on Christa's lap and the both of them eating, the brunette smiled. There had been no sign of Annie's father. Upon learning her last name, the two teens had gone to the police department and sought official advice; of course this lead to Annie being asked numerous questions about how she was cared for. Ymir and Christa were also questioned about their abilities to watch a small child. When Ymir's job proved to be enough to provide for all of them, the police had released Annie back into their care. It helped when the child analyst came in and stated their belief that Annie would be better off with the two women. As she helped herself to a large portion of food, Ymir muttered, "I'm getting promoted to floor lead. My pay raise is effective in two weeks."

"Oh, Ymir, that's wonderful!" Christa smiled brightly at her girlfriend; a pay raise meant that they would be better prepared to provide for the little girl in their care. Turning to Annie, the older blonde whispered, "Annie- oh." The four-year-old was asleep, her breathing slow and shallow. Getting up, the blue-eyed teen gave Ymir a slow, deep kiss and mumbled in her ear, "Let me put her to bed. I'll be back out on the couch in a few minutes."

At that, the taller female's eyes widened and she leapt out of her chair to put the dishes in the sink. A few minutes later, Christa was on the couch with the freckled girl above her. "I have to leave for work in forty-five minutes," warned Ymir. Her hands were, presently, unbuttoning the blouse that the blonde wore and pushing the fabric away little by little. The smaller female squirmed and gasped quietly when those hands pushed her bra up. Things were progressing as expected for them as more clothes came off of Christa and Ymir stayed mostly dressed. Then, when the skirt that the blonde had been wearing was pushed to bunch around the teen's hips, they were both panting heavily from the passionate kisses. As Ymir dipped her head to take advantage of the situation, Christa halted her with one hand. "What?"

"Shh. Listen."

"Christa? Christa!" The soft cries were coming from down the hall where the bedroom was.

"Oh, come _on_ , you've gotta be kidding me!" hissed Ymir. She groaned, "It's because of-"

"Of that nap you two took. She's gonna be wide awake for the next few hours probably," Christa mumbled as she sat up and fixed her clothes. Before getting up to go get the little girl, the blonde grabbed her girlfriend by the collar of her sweatshirt and kissed her deeply. "We will get a chance to finish. I promise."

Ymir glanced at the clock on the wall. She had to leave for work in fifteen minutes. "Damn Christa's love of foreplay. We could've been about to finish up by now if we did it my way..." She stood and went to the entry, shoving her wallet and keys into her pockets.

[X]


	3. Birthday?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie's fifth birthday approaches quickly and Christa is at a loss for what to get. Ymir teaches Annie a trick. And then it's Annie's birthday.

[X]

Christa held the girl in her lap, humming softly; it was their routine that when Christa had to do homework, Annie would sit in her lap and watch. Occasionally she'd ask a question but for the most part, the younger blonde seemed content watching her guardian work. Suddenly, a thought struck the blue-eyed teen. "Annie, do you want anything for your birthday?"

"I can get something for my birthday?" Annie paused and blinked, thinking of an appropriate answer. "Dunno. Why?" She had nabbed the large history textbook off of the coffee table and was turning through it. Annie felt no desire to read the tiny lettering but she found the pictures fascinating. Hearing no response from her older counterpart, the little blonde turned and looked up at the aforementioned girl and asked, "Christa?"

The sound of Annie's sweet voice brought Christa back into reality and she stuttered out an apology. "I was just curious, sweetie. Don't worry about it. What are you looking at there?"

Annie looked back at her discovery and pointed at the photograph. "What's that? It looks like the mall." She looked back at Christa and watched her face carefully. "What is it?"

"It's the ruins of Pompeii," replied the older girl. She set her physics book aside and pointed to the courtyard of the home. "See, that was actually the center of someone's home at one  point."

"What happened?"

"Well, there was a volcano- Mount Vesuvius- that began smoking and the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum ignored the signs. They thought it was dormant. Sleeping. And so when Vesuvius erupted and the cities began to be covered in smoldering ash, it was too late. A lot of the people were caught in the eruption and the city was actually preserved pretty well. It's why we know so much about that area and the way they lived at the time," explained Christa.

Annie blinked and grinned. "That's cool." She held the book up, giving it to her guardian and urged, "Can you tell me more?" The blondes sat for a time, going through the book, allowing Annie to point to things that caught her eyes and Christa explained what the pictures were from and the time that it happened. Eventually, Annie began to doze off. Her head rested on Christa's thigh as she started slipping into a light sleep. "Christa?"

"Yes, Annie?"

The girl brought her small hand up and rested it on Christa's knee. "Thank you for finding me."

Tears began to well in the corners of the teenager's eyes and she ran a hand through the soft blonde hair of the child, whispering, "No, Annie. Thank you for letting us find you." Christa sat silently, quickly finishing off her physics homework. She gently patted Annie's head and grabbed her cell phone, typing out a text to her girlfriend. [ **Ymir, what should we get for Annie's birthday? We need to get her a good present.** ]

[ **Wait wut?** ]

[ **Really? We're raising her! And I want to get something that she's gonna love.** ]

[ **shit babe idk...she loved that rubix cube. puzzles???** ]

Christa groaned quietly, rolling her eyes. [ **Well, some, yeah. I kinda want to get a teddy bear for her too though.** ]

[ **a teddy bear? idk she doesnt seem 2 like stuff like that** ]

[ **Whatever. We'll talk about it later. Will you be home soon?** ]

[ **Bout 2 head home now babe. ilu** ]

The blonde girl shook her head and quietly shoved her books into her backpack. She had to leave for school in an hour and it would only take fifteen minutes for Ymir to get home. Christa pulled Annie into her lap and cuddled the little girl, managing to soothe her back to sleep. Soon enough, the front door opened and shut with a click and the sound of boots softly dropping to the floor interrupted the silence. The brunette grumbled softly, "Hey, babe..." She grabbed the two blondes, gently lifting them up and rearranging them  beside her. Christa was snuggled against her girlfriend's side, head nestled against her shoulder. Annie was still sleeping soundly, curled up on Ymir's chest. Ymir eyed  Christa for a moment, waiting to see if she was asleep. Feeling reassured by the even, soft breathing, the freckled teen leaned in to kiss the top of Annie's head. "Hey, lil bit."

[X]

Christa blinked, raising her head from the couch to look around. Annie was sitting on the floor with Ymir, pointing to things on the teenager's phone and quietly exclaiming, "That one."

Ymir grinned and tapped the top of the toddler's head, laughing, "You shouldn't be this good at solitaire, lil bit."

"Stoppit," grumbled the four-year-old. She peeked over at her blonde guardian and brightened, letting a small smile show as she leaped to her feet and jumped onto the couch. "Sleep good, Christa?" piped the girl. She settled on Christa's lap, her blonde hair already washed and pulled up in a bun.

The older blonde sat up, causing Annie to shift slightly and wrapped her arms around the little girl's waist. Christa looked at her girlfriend and questioned, "What time is it? Shouldn't I be in school?" She grabbed her cell phone and felt her jaw drop when she saw it was nearly two in the afternoon."Ymir, how could you let me sleep this long?"

Brown eyes narrowed slightly as Ymir stood and walked off, calling over her shoulder, "You needed the rest. And besides, me and lil bit just played solitaire the whole time."

"We watched a movie too," chimed Annie. She reached up and gently petted Christa's head, asking, "Why are you cranky with Ymir?"

Smiling softly, Christa leaned forward and rested her head against Annie's. She replied, "I'm not actually cranky with Ymir. I was cranky because I thought I had missed school for no reason. But I must've really needed all the sleep." She pressed a kiss to Annie's cheek, making the little girl squeal softly and squirm away. Standing up with the four-year-old in her arms, the older blonde walked into the kitchen to see Ymir cutting up an apple into small bites. "What the-"

"You gotta see this, babe!" The brunette grinned and looked at Annie, muttering, "Ok. Just like we practiced. I'm telling you, she will be amazed."

Annie nodded and squirmed in Christa's arms, murmuring, "Down."

As soon as her feet hit the ground, Annie backed up and smirked at Ymir. "You're not gonna miss this time, right? 'Cause you can't throw very good." She giggled when the tall teenager rolled her eyes. However, the instant that Ymir threw the apple piece, Annie leaped forward and caught it in her mouth, munching happily. She swallowed and looked at Christa, seeing the look of utter shock on her face. "Ymir can actually throw!"

"You just- I can't even..." Christa gaped at the pair, looking from one to the other. And, without warning, burst into a fit of laughter, collapsing against the cabinets and sliding to the floor. She held her own stomach as she continued to giggle madly. "You're both a _bsurd_!" Tears were sliding down her cheeks by the time she stopped and looked at both Annie and Ymir. They stood there, smiling. Annie had her tiny fist curled in the hem of Ymir's shirt and Ymir's fingers lightly brushed the top of Annie's head.

"We thought you needed a good laugh. A real one. You've been really down and stuff lately," Ymir muttered. She dropped down beside Christa and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Annie crawled into the blonde teen's lap and looked up expectantly at the brunette. "Oh. Hang on." She reached up and grabbed the plate of apple pieces, allowing Annie to scoot into  her lap instead. "All right. Snack time." The four-year-old popped the little pieces into her mouth, eating happily while the teens spoke quietly to each other. Ymir grumbled, "I dunno why it's such a big deal. She doesn't seem like she's really interested in celebrating. It seems like just another day to her."

"But I want her to enjoy her birthday. So she knows that she's special and we're happy she was born..." whispered Christa. She looked up at her girlfriend and murmured, "Please?"

Ymir blinked, feeling her heart clench slightly. She remembered, vividly, the argument that  Christa had gotten into with her parents. Her biological ones as well as her father's wife. How they had wished that Christa had never been born. "All right then...what do we do?"

[X]

Annie yawned quietly and stretched out on the bed. As she stetched, her hand hit something cold and plastic and she looked to the side to see a white Jonquil laying on the pillow. She sat up, curiously removing the plastic from around the flower and lightly touching the cool petals. "Annie, you awake?" Christa peeked her head into the room and smiled brightly, whispering, "C'mere." The younger blonde hopped off the bed, running over to her guardian. Her small feet padded against the hardwood floor and she was immediately pulled up into Christa's arms. As they exchanged a good morning hug, the teenager whispered, "Happy birthday, Annie."

"It's really my birthday?" the girl asked, her tiny voice raising slightly. "S'at why I got a flower on my pillow?"

"Yup, that's exactly why you got a flower on your pillow," Christa replied softly, "and there's still more. So, c'mon. Let's get you dressed and we'll start the day." She carried her five-year-old charge into the bathroom and asked, "What do you wanna wear today, Annie?"

The little girl mumbled against Christa's shoulder, muffling her reply. When the older female shifted, Annie clarified, "Can I wear a...a dress?"

Christa blinked but nodded, smiling. She hurried out of the room and grabbed the only dress that Annie owned- an article of clothing that she usually refused to wear unless everything else was dirty- and brought it in. "You sure you wanna wear it? Usually you hate wearing a dress."

Annie blushed lightly and looked away, saying, "I wanna wear it. My birthday is s'posed t'be special. And I...wanna look pretty..."

"But you're already pretty," the teenager soothed. She helped the child out of her pajamas and into the lavender-colored sundress, smoothing the hem gently. After a moment of brushing the five-year-old's hair and pulling it into a bun, Christa leaned back. "Oh, Annie, you look beautiful!"

The five-year-old blushed and threw her arms around the taller blonde's neck. "Really?"

A knock on the bathroom door interrupted the blondes and their raised their gazes to look at Ymir; she stood in the doorway, hands on her hips and smirking. "Happy birthday, lil bit. Let's go so you can open presents."

Annie's eyes widened. "I got presents?"

Ymir reached down and lifted the girl into her arms, laughing, "Well, why the hell not? C'mon!" Ignoring the huff from Christa, the brunette strolled into their living area and set Annie on the couch, handing a couple boxes to the girl. "Go ahead, rip the paper apart! It's ok!" Annie did as she was instructed and made quick work of the wrapping paper. Over the course of her gifts, she received a new hoodie, an assortment of other clothes and a couple puzzles that would provide hours of noiseless entertainment. "There's one more," Ymir announced quietly as she stood and walked out of the room. Christa and Annie looked at one another, sharing in the mild confusion of the moment. Finally, the freckled teen returned with a worn teddy bear that had obviously been well-loved. Kneeling in front of the five-year-old, Ymir murmured, "This was my favorite toy while I was growing up. It was the last thing my dad ever gave me before he died."

"Does he have a name?"

"Uhm, no, he doesn't."

Annie nodded slowly, holding the bear at arms length and staring at it intently. Eventually, she stated, "Braveheart. That's his name." And with that, Annie hugged the bear to her tightly and murmured softly to it.

Christa wiped at her eyes, struggling not to cry. The bear had been exceedingly special to Ymir. As the tears fell, the blonde felt the soft touch of her girlfriend's thumbs rubbing lightly at her cheeks. "Don't cry for me, Christa. I'll be ok."

[X]


	4. Singing, Nightmares and Donuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and her guardians adjust well to their living arrangements. Nightmares are had and Ymir finds herself bonding with Annie.

[X]

Annie peeked over the edge of the couch as Christa walked in, watching as the older blonde set her backpack aside and slipped out of her shoes. Holding Braveheart close to her chest, the five-year-old chimed, "Hi, Christa."

"Hey, sweetheart, how are you?" Christa grabbed her backpack and brought it over to the living room and kissed the girl's forehead. As she pulled out her books, the eighteen-year-old noticed that Annie hadn't replied to her. "Annie, baby, is something wrong?" She sat on the couch and brushed the little girl's bangs away from her face, kissing her cheek gently.

Holding onto Braveheart as she moved, the little blonde crawled into her guardian's lap and curled up, nuzzling her head against Christa's stomach. "Christa, would it be ok if I call you mommy?" A silence settled into the room; for her credit, the teenager at least had the decency to hide her complete shock. She simply stared quietly at the top of her ward's head, feeling the little girl grow steadily more tense. "S'ok if you don't want me to call you that. I was jus' wondering..."

Christa shifted and held the five-year-old in her arms, blue eyes meeting and holding. "Annie, I decided from the moment we took you in that if you ever gave me half a chance..." She hugged the little girl close and said, "If you gave me half a chance, I'd jump to be your mother. So, yes, Annie. You can call me mommy." She nestled her head against Annie's shoulder and cried, letting her silent sobs make her whole body quake. She clung to the little girl in her arms, holding her like a lifeline. "I love you, Annie."

Wrapping her tiny arms around her mother's neck, Annie whispered, "I love you too, mommy." The blondes sat there on the couch, holding one another, until Christa's tears had subsided. When she was sure that she wouldn't cry anymore, she raised her head to look at Annie and smiled. After a minute of silent contemplation, the five-year-old reached up and cupped the teenager's cheeks. She brushed her thumbs over the crests of Christa's cheeks and asked, "Are you ok now?"

"Yeah, I'm ok, baby. I'm perfect," giggled the eighteen-year-old. She smiled and nuzzled Annie's nose with her own, stage-whispering, "But you know what would make me feel even better?"

"What?" A tiny grin was plastered to Annie's face and her nose scrunched up when Christa brought her in for another Eskimo kiss.

"How about a kiss so you can make sure I'll be all better?"

Annie grinned and gave her mother a quick but soft peck on the lips, giggling when their noses bumped. "All better now?"

Christa nodded. "All better." She stood up, holding Annie, and made her way into the kitchen, saying, "I think it's time for a snack. What do you think?" The five-year-old nodded and peeked over Christa's shoulder, waving. When the older blonde turned, she was met with the sight of Ymir in her cargo jeans and tanktop, almost ready for work. Her dark brown hair was nearly black from being water-slicked and a cocky grin graced her features. Christa smiled brightly and leaned up on tip-toe to steal a kiss. "Hey."

"Hey," Ymir replied slowly. She raised an eyebrow at the redness of her girlfriend's eyes and asked, "You been cryin' or something?"

"Happy tears, Ymir, I promise." The eighteen-year-old sighed contentedly and questioned, "Do you want me to make dinner real quick? Because I was just going to get a snack for Annie and myself."

Annie lightly tugged on Christa's shirt sleeve and whispered fervently, "Mommy, may I have an orange?" She gestured to Braveheart. "He wants to share one."

"Oh, so Braveheart likes oranges too? Ok, oranges it is!" agreed the teenager.

Ymir laughed and shook her head, following the two blondes into the kitchen and reaching into the fridge for her container of food and her bottle of tea. "Nah. I'll be fine, babe. I'm gonna go ahead and go in. If I keep up good attendance, I might even be able to take a day shift once Annie goes to school." She kissed Christa once more and then ruffled Annie's hair, ignoring the grunt of protest. "Bye, babe. Bye, lil bit. I'll see ya later."

The pair of blue-eyed girls called out, "Bye, Ymir!" After they heard the door shut, Christa set her daughter down and grabbed an orange. As she began peeling it, she hummed quietly; it was old lullaby and she had long forgotten the words. When she felt a tiny hand on her knee, the taller female looked down at the plaintive look on Annie's face. "What is it, honey?"

"Sit down. I wanna braid your hair!" Christa laughed softly but complied, knowing that the five-year-old wasn't so much going to braid it as simply play with the strands. As soon as she sat down, the little girl propped herself behind the older blonde and started running her fingers through the soft length of hair. "Can I go to school this year?"

"You wanna go to school? Well, as soon as it's time for the kindergarten roundup, we'll go!" She fell quiet for a moment and said, "Annie, when you go to school, I want you to do the things that make you happy. You shouldn't feel like you have to do something. Ok?"

"Ok but-" Annie's fingers caught on a small tangle, making the older of the pair wince. "Sorry, mommy..." The little girl silently worked at the tangle, concentrating on getting it loosened. She brightened once it became untangled and asked, "Why did you say that stuff?"

"When I was younger and I lived with my parents- my father and stepmother, actually- they told me what to pursue. As soon as they found out I could sing, I had to take choir and I had to take lots of classes to make sure I was the best." Christa paused. "I hated it. I hated singing. As soon as I got to high school, I told myself I was going to quit choir. So, after our first performance, I told my teacher and he begged me to stay in for one last performance. And I agreed."

"What happened? Do you still sing?" asked the little blonde.

Christa nodded. "I still sing. See, our next performance was at a school assembly, leading all the classes in the school song. Well, Ymir was at that assembly. She usually skipped but one of the teachers caught her and made her sit up front with the rest of the junior class." The eighteen-year-old smiled softly at the memory. "After the performance, Ymir caught me and told me I sounded like an angel. And asked me to keep singing. If I kept singing, she'd keep going to the assemblies."

"So...Ymir is older than you?"

"Yes, Ymir is older than me by two years. Funny thing is...even though she skipped a lot of classes, her grades were really good. And she's really smart." Christa handed back a segment of orange, laughing when she felt Annie's tiny fingers brush her own. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. "How about we go put in a movie and Braveheart can watch with us?" Annie nodded happily, hopping up and grabbing her faithful companion.

[X]

Christa was woken by a loud, wailing scream. She jolted, realizing that she had left Annie sleeping comfortably on the couch and had come to the bedroom herself. "Annie?" the blonde woman called, her anxiety rising. She sat up in bed and waited, hearing tiny feet come pounding down the hallway and through the door.

Annie stood there, clutching Braveheart, with tears streaming down her cheeks. "M-Mommy!" She leaped onto the bed, throwing her arms open to the older blonde and cuddling fiercely against her. "Mommy, there were monsters and they were big and there were a lot of people screaming and I couldn't do anything and-"

"Hush, baby, it's ok," Christa soothed. She ran her fingers gently through the child's hair, doing her best to calm Annie. The child was, understandably, distressed. Her little body shook with the force of her sobs and Christa's heart broke for her daughter. Softly, the older blonde began to sing, " _Hush now, my baby...be still, love, don't cry. Sleep as you're rocked by the stream..sleep and remember my last lullabye. So I'll be with you when you dream.._." Annie's tears slowly began to subside and she simply curled into the tightest ball she could, huddling against the teenager.

It was then that the front door clicked shut and Ymir looked around for the pair. Seeing no one in the kitchen or living room, she took her bets with the sound of sniffling in the bedroom. Brunette hair messy from working, the woman gaped at the sight of both blondes huddled on the bed and crying. "What the hell happened?" She kicked off her boots, having forgotten to do so at the entry. As she crawled onto the bed, Ymir wrapped her girlfriend and their daughter in a tight hug. "Nightmares?"

"Y-Ymir?" Annie looked up at her taller guardian and snuggled her way between the pair. "There aren't any monsters...right?"

Glancing at Christa, the freckled twenty-year-old shook her head and rested her hand on the little girl's back. "No, there aren't any monsters. Not anymore. I'm here to scare 'em all off. You two get some sleep, all right?" As soon as the two blondes had fallen back to sleep, Ymir pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. [ **Any luck?** ]

[ **Nothing yet. Checked all the homeless shelters within 5 mile radius. Expanding search. Will keep you posted.** ]

[ **Good to go. Let me know ASAP** **.** ]

[ **Is she adjusting well? No...symptoms or any disorders?** ]

Ymir grimaced. [ **She's fucking perfect, just like Christa. Don't worry**.]

[X]

Annie woke slowly, feeling confused at the warmth around her. Opening her eyes completely, she caught sight of her mother; Christa was still slumbering but Ymir was quite awake. The little blonde murmured, "Hey, 'mir?"

"Mm? Oh, lil bit. You're awake." She ruffled the girl's hair lightly. "Sleep ok?"

The five-year-old nodded. "After Christa sang and you scared the monsters away." She peeked at the brunette's phone curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Playing a game of Angry Birds. Anyway. What say you we go get some breakfast and surprise Christa?" She grinned brightly. "We'll even get some more of that chocolate milk that you like."

The little blonde brightened at that and nodded vigorously, squirming gently out of Christa's arms and off the bed. She shuffled over to the dresser, tapping the fourth drawer up. "Want my hoodie."

"All right, all right, gimme a sec, will ya?" She managed to also get out from under the eighteen-year-old without rousing her and went to the dresser, getting out Annie's hoodie and a pair of jeans for the girl. She also handed down Annie's favorite t-shirt and a pair of socks. "Ok. Let's get dressed and we'll go grab some donuts." As soon as the five-year-old had managed to get her clothes on- she had a little trouble pulling the hoodie down over her head- and Ymir laced on the tiny Converse they had bought for Annie the previous weekend, they headed out the door. The little girl sat perched on the brunette's shoulders and they strolled quietly along the street. "What donut do you want, lil bit?"

Annie thought for a moment. "Chocolate one."

"Chocolate it is." As they got into the bakery on the corner, Ymir set the girl down and grabbed her hand. They stood and picked out the donuts they wanted and waited to pay. "You ready to go home and watch some cartoons?"

"I wanna watch the animal show!" exclaimed Annie.

"Which one?"

"With the brothers and their creature powers!"

Ymir handed over the money and looked at Annie as she waited for the change. "You mean the Wild Kratts? Ok then. We can watch that." She grinned. "Think Christa would wanna go to the zoo later?"

Amazement dawned on the little girl's face and she whispered, "We can go to the zoo?"

Pocketing her change, the tall brunette grabbed the box of donuts and headed out the door with the five-year-old still holding onto her other hand. "Yeah, we can go. But let's get this back to Christa and also-" She whipped out the bottle of chocolate milk that she had bought and held it out to Annie. "Here. Since you were good and helped me get the donuts."

Annie smiled and hugged her guardian's leg. "Thank you, Ymir."

The freckled woman scoffed quietly, grinning despite herself. "You know, you're kinda growin' on me, kid."

[X]


	5. School Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie finally starts school and learns to make friends slowly. But she makes a mistake and gets in trouble with Mikasa, one of her classmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://odraw.tumblr.com/post/84791864243/ymir-and-christa-find-a-little-annie-in-a-park
> 
> Go look at how cute this is; I am liter

[X]

"You're gonna have so much fun at school, sweetheart! You'll get to meet some kids your age and be friends," Christa said happily as she adjusted the straps to her daughter's backpack. She stood and brushed at her eyes to dry the stray tears.

Annie looked over her shoulder at the growing group of children gathering around a redheaded woman as she muttered, "I don't know, mommy. I like being with you and 'Mir." She turned her gaze back up to Christa. "I don't think I wanna go to school anymore."

Christa bent and hugged Annie tightly, whispering, "You can do it, Annie. It's your first day and it's gonna be scary. But it'll be fine! I promise, ok?" When she felt Annie nod, Christa pulled back and kissed the little girl on the forehead before grabbing her hand and leading her over to the group of children. "Ms. Ral?"

"You must be Christa! And this," the woman said as her attention shifted down, "must be Annie."

"What time will the kids be out of class today?" Petra hummed quietly and replied, "About 12:30. It's a short day, just to get the kids acclimated to the classroom and get everything set up." She smiled gently at Annie and held out a hand, "Annie, I'm Ms. Ral and I'm going to be your kindergarten teacher. I'm really excited to have you in my class and I can't wait to see what you'll be like as a student." With that said, Petra accepted Annie's hand in her own and pulled her into the group of kids. Annie watched for a moment longer as Christa and Ymir walked off, going back to their apartment a couple blocks away. Then, she paid attention as Petra clapped her hands and called, "Ok, kids, follow me! We're gonna go to the classroom and get to know each other!"

The children all followed and when they got to the classroom, Ms. Ral split them into groups of six because that's how many could sit comfortably at the tables. Annie found herself at a table with four boys and another girl. Bertholdt, Reiner, Eren and Armin were the boys. The girl was Mikasa. As they sat across from one another, Annie couldn't help but notice that Mikasa had really pretty, really long black hair. And her grey eyes were big but not very expressive. Not unless Eren told some horrible joke. Armin clutched a huge storybook to his chest after they had passed in all of their school utensils. Reiner, however, seemed intent on helping Bertholdt overcome his fear of speaking. "Bertl, it's ok. Ya gotta jus' talk! Or else you won't get better!"

"But- but what if people laugh?"

At that point, Reiner grabbed Bertholdt's shoulder and made him face everyone else at the table; he asked, "Hey, guys, if Bertl has trouble sayin' his R's, would you laugh at him? Or would ya be nice and not laugh?"

Eren crossed his arms over his chest and announced, "Not a chance! Right, Armin?"

Shaking his head, Armin said, "Nope. Wouldn't do it." Mikasa simply shook her head in agreement and looked at Eren.

Annie frowned slightly but shook her head as well. Bert seemed nice enough and if she wanted to make friends like Christa hoped, she'd have to be nice. Once everyone at the table was in agreement, Reiner urged, "C'mon, say hi!"

"Hi..my name's Bewtholdt. Wei is my best fwiend," whispered the boy. His tanned skin did nothing to hide the blush on his cheeks and Annie vaguely understood why.

Ms. Ral clapped her hands and announced, "All right kids! Grab your lunch boxes and let's go outside! We're gonna have a picnic and then recess until your parents come pick you up!"

[X]

School was going smoothly enough and Annie was adjusting well. She didn't talk to Mikasa or any of the boys at the table; not unless she was told to. Because she already knew her numbers up to 100 and she knew the entire alphabet, Annie felt bored. Christa had taught her these things and so much more. The only things that Annie actually looked forward to was recess and nap time. However, one day, as she sat on the jungle gym, kicking her feet listlessly in the air, Bertholdt approached her. "H-hi, Annie!" he called, a shy smile on his face. Behind him, Reiner was storming up.

"Hi, Bert," replied the girl easily. She began to climb down, eager to move elsewhere and avoid contact with anyone else. The boy shuffled after her until she turned her gaze to him and asked, "What is it?"

"Can...can I be your fwiend? I think you're weally pwetty." He blushed again and he tugged at the sweater vest his mother had made him wear.

"You dress weird," Annie stated.

"My momma dwesses me," Bertholdt huffed indignantly. His lips curled into a pout as he said, "I just- I think you could be weally nice! And I wanna be your fwiend!"

Reiner was standing behind the brunette boy, arms crossed over his chest as he snapped, "Bertl, c'mon! We don't have to be friends with a _girl_!" He reached out and started to tug the boy's hand, pulling him away. "If she don't wanna be your friend, ok. We don't need her!"

Annie's heart clenched as she realized she might be losing a chance to become friends with someone for real. "Oh, so I can't be friends with Bert because I'm a girl?" She scowled, glaring at the blonde boy. He was big but Bert was even bigger than him. "What...what if I do wanna be friends?"

"You do?" Bertholdt's face lit up and he planted his feet firmly against his best friend's tugging as he smiled at Annie. "We can be fwiends?"

She nodded and held out one small hand. "Friends?"

"Fwiends!" Bert clasped her hand in his as Reiner growled, stomping off. "He's just mad. He thinks girls have cooties."

"Cooties?"

"I dunno what they are," the taller child admitted. "They sound fake." He paused before asking shyly, "Wanna try the monkey bars with me?" Annie nodded and snatched his hand, dragging him off to where Reiner was swinging on the bars.

[X]

By the time December rolled around, Annie was back in a hoodie and jeans with a winter coat that Christa had found for her. It hadn't snowed yet and it wasn't cold enough that Ms. Ral thought they should stay inside. So as the class ran around the playground, Annie sat under a big tree and watched as Bert and Reiner attempted to swing higher than Eren and Armin. The boys all got along fairly well. It was only Annie and Mikasa that never seemed to talk. And Annie was all right with that. Mikasa made the girl feel shy and Annie hated that feeling. Her head snapped up as she heard the gravel crunch nearby and Annie's eyes widened slightly to see Mikasa standing there, wrapped in her scarf and coat. Her mouth was covered, along with her nose but she reached up to pull down the fabric. A small, shy smile graced her features as she murmured, "Eren said I should try and be friends with you."

"If you wanna be friends just 'cause Eren said so, I don't wanna be your friend." And with that, Annie stood up and marched away, feeling tears sting her eyes. It was always Eren with that girl. Soon, she heard shouting and turned to see Eren running after her. "What do _you_ want?"

"Why were you mean to Kasa? She's just tryin' to be your friend!" His gold eyes were narrowed and Annie supposed that he thought that it was intimidating with the way his fists were clenched.

"Well, I don't wanna be her friend!"

Eren stepped closer and shoved the girl's shoulder, yelling, "She thinks you're pretty and smart and she wants to talk to you! Why are you so mean?"

Annie had reached her boiling point the moment that Eren touched her. She turned, shoving him as hard as possible and made the boy fall flat on his back. "Because she only did it 'cause you said so! I don't wanna be friends with someone who has to be told to!" And that's when Mikasa came back up and shoved Annie in return. They pushed one another and eventually, Annie threw a punch and hit Mikasa's stomach. She doubled over and grunted, shivering as Ms. Ral ran up.

"Girls! I'm so disappointed! C'mon, let's go. The principal is going to call your parents." She took both girls by the hand and headed inside, asking the other kindergarten teacher- Mr. Jin- to watch over the classes. As she led them inside, Petra sighed softly and asked, "What possessed the two of you to fight like that?" She received no answer, as she expected, and instead sat the girls on two different benches outside of the principal's office.

Christa and Ymir arrived shortly; Christa had graduated and was called in from work, allowing Ymir to go get her and drive over to the school. Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman arrived only moments after Annie's parents and while Mr. Ackerman spoke to the principal, Mrs. Ackerman tended to her daughter. Christa murmured, "Annie, what happened?"

"She only wanted to be my friend 'cause Eren told her to," the girl grumbled. Her blue eyes stung lightly with tears as she stood in front of her mother and Ymir. Her eyes widened, however, when she head the heaving sobs of the other little girl who was crying to her own mother.

"B-but I just w-wanted.."

"I know, baby, it's ok. You probably just didn't explain very well. You sometimes leave out details," soothed the older woman. She held Mikasa tightly, wiping away the tears and picking her up once the principal bid them goodbye. As they left, Mikasa's watery, grey eyes peeked over her mother's shoulder at Annie and she waved with one gloved hand before burying her face against the woman's shoulder.

Finally letting her own tears fall, Annie reached up for Christa and nestled her head into the crook of the woman's neck. It felt like a long drive, as they made it to the apartment in silence. As soon as they were in the door and Annie's coat and backpack were put away, she kicked off her shoes and ran to the couch, curling up with Braveheart. Christa peeked over the back of the couch and felt her heart break to see Annie crying and hugging the little bear close to her chest. Ymir came up and wrapped an arm around her girlfriend, frowning at the sight. It was hard to see the normally sweet, quiet child in such a state. Ymir whispered, "Go make her favorite dinner. I'm gonna talk to her a little bit." As Christa left the room, Ymir came around to where Annie was and pulled the girl into her lap. "Hey, lil bit." "Hey, 'Mir..." "So, why'd you say she only wanted to be your friend 'cause someone told her to?"

"That's what she said. That Eren told her to be my friend." Annie clutched Braveheart fiercely, the tears on her face still staining her pale skin. Her little mouth curled into a pout as she held the bear.

Ymir smiled gently. She had been the same way as a kid. "Y'know, maybe she wanted to be your friend but didn't know how to approach you. And when- Eren?- when Eren encouraged her, she finally made an effort to ask."

Annie blinked. She hadn't thought of that. "D'you really think she wanted to be my friend before Eren told her to?"

"That's the way it sounded to me." She grinned, jostling the girl playfully. "C'mon. Smile." When the little blonde turned her head away, Ymir tried again, pressing her freckled cheek against Annie's pale cheek.This got a little giggle out of the girl and the freckled woman resorted to spinning the girl onto the couch and nuzzling her stomach, laughing, "Smile, lil bit, or else I'll tickle you until you cry!"

Annie squirmed, giving little cries and giggles. "No! No!" She struggled, attempting to kick her feet and wave her arms to free herself.

After about an hour of giggling and resting on the couch after the tickle fight had subsided, Christa emerged from the kitched and laughed, "Well, you two, are you hungry?" Without answering, the other two females leaped from the couch and hurried into the kitchen, allowing Christa time enough to press a kiss to Ymir's lips and run her fingers lightly through Annie's hair.

[X]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://odraw.tumblr.com/post/84791864243/ymir-and-christa-find-a-little-annie-in-a-park
> 
> Go look at this; it is so cute and I am literally in love with it right now.


	6. Apologizing, Sharing and Hospitals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon returning to school after winter break, Annie discovers that bad things have happened and her chance to apologize might be gone.

Mikasa was nowhere to be seen when Annie walked into the coat room at school and as she put her backpack on her respective hook and hung up her coat, the girl still did not walk in. After that day when they fought. Mikasa did not come back. The day after was the beginning of winter break and, of course, Christmas. However, nearly three weeks later, there was still no sign of Mikasa. Annie trudged to her seat and was greeted jovially by Bertholdt and Reiner. "Hey, Annie!" Reiner said as he got up from his chair and came over to give her a hug.

"What's that for? I thought you were convinced you'd get cooties?" Annie huffed softly. She blushed lightly and covered her cheeks with her hands.

"That was when I first met you, dummy!"

"You're a dummy. Reiner, the red-nosed reindeer!"

"It's not Christmas anymore! And I'm not a reindeer!"

Bertholdt interjected, hugging both of his friends and asking, "Pwease stop fighting. I don't wike it." The two blonde children quieted but glared at one another and Reiner returned to his seat. "Now say sowwy."

Reiner remained quiet for a beat before snorting and crossing his arms, sighing, "Sorry."

Annie blinked but replied softly, "Me too."

At the front of the classroom, Ms. Ral stood and clapped her hands and said, "Eyes up here, everyone. Now. I have to tell you something. Mikasa won't be back to class for a little while. She's at the hospital. Some bad people hurt her and her family. I thought it might be nice if we all made 'Get Well' cards. Line up and grab a sheet of colored paper and practice your letters on the notebook paper on your desks."

"Mikasa shoulda kicked those guys' butts." Eren was the first out of his chair and pushed right by Annie, snapping at her, "Are you gonna be mean when you make her a card too?"

"No." She remained silent afterwards, ignoring his growl and waiting for him to pass. After Eren and Armin had walked by and gotten their paper, she went with Bertholdt and Reiner, grabbing a sheet of light blue paper and going back to her chair. She folded her paper over and started writing with a green crayon:

_Mikasa,_

_I'm sorry I was so mean to you. My mommy told me I should tell you when I saw you again but I don't know when that's going to be. I hope you get better soon._

She wrote her name in the pretty letters that Christa had started to teach her and after that, closed the card and pondered what to put on the front. Then, the thought occured that Mikasa might like pretty flowers. She got up and walked over to Ms. Ral's desk and asked softly, "Ms. Ral, may I have some white paper too? I wanna draw a-" Annie stumbled, struggling to remember the name of the flower that she had gotten as a birthday gift. "A jonquil. And it has white petals."

Petra blinked but smiled and handed the paper to Annie. "Here you go, Annie." Her phone started ringing and the woman patted the little girl on the shoudler. "It's ok, sweetheart. Go ahead and finish your card." With that, she turned back to her phone and answered, "Hello? Hanji, you can't call my work number like this. No, I know how important- honey, that's wonderful but I'm working. Hanji, honey, wait- oh my God, what am I going to do with you." She paused longer this time, a soft smile pulling at her lips. "I love you too. Go discover something brilliant." She hung up the phone and began to walk around the room, checking on her students and making sure that everything was going smoothly. As she came around to Annie's desk, she saw the little girl working studiously on a rather remarkable-looking jonquil. For being done in crayon, anyway. "Oh, Annie, that's beautiful!"

Annie looked up and smiled shyly but Reiner piped up, "See, we told you! We said it was awesome!"

Brushing a strand of her own red hair out of the way, Petra leaned over and said, "I'll go cut around this so we can glue it to the front, all right? And then we can get it to Mikasa."

After Petra had walked away, Eren announced, "I'm gonna be taking the cards to Mikasa. Since my mom is Mikasa's godmother."

[X]

As she sat in the backseat of the car, Annie asked, "Can we go to the hospital?"

Ymir's eyebrow but she left the talking to Christa, who promptly turned in her seat and asked, "Honey, why?"

"I need to say sorry to Mikasa. You said so." When that apparently did nothing to explained, Annie added, "Mikasa is in the hospital. Some bad people hurt her family over break and so she didn't come back to school."

"Oh, holy shit, that was Mikasa's family?" Ymir groaned and shook her head, pulling into the parking lot of their apartment complex. "Ok, look, we'll go tomorrow, lil bit." She got out of the car and came around to open Christa's door and grab Annie out of the backseat, propping the little girl on her hip.

Christa was unusually quiet as they entered the apartment and she quickly kicked off her shoes and hung up her coat, going over to Annie's new bed in the corner of the living room and sitting down. "Annie, sweetheart, we need to talk."

Annie looked back at Ymir, who had taken the girl's coat and backpack, and raised a brow. Ymir shrugged helplessly and nodded, "Go."

Going over to her mother, Annie asked, "Mommy, what's wrong?" She crawled onto her bed and snatched Braveheart away from the pillows, holding him tightly as Christa's eyes turned sadly to look at the pair.

"Annie, about a week ago, there was a break-in. Some bad men robbed a house and hurt the people inside." She bit her lip and continued, "The parents didn't...get help in time. And now they're angels, up in heaven. Mikasa's parents. Those bad men hurt Mikasa too, expecting that she'd become an angel too. But she didn't and she's in the hospital getting better." Pulling Annie into her lap, Christa murmured, "I'm sorry, sweetie. We'll go tomorrow and then you can say sorry to Mikasa."

Softly brushing her thumbs over Braveheart's new tie, Annie asked, "Will she be ok?"

"Yeah, honey, she's gonna be ok." Christa kissed her daughter on the forehead and smiled. "Let's get dinner going, huh?" They walked to the kitchen, hand in hand and started to make dinner.

[X]

Ymir yawned as she sprawled out on the bed, grumbling tiredly as Christa flopped down beside her. "Babe, are we ever gonna have sex again?"

"We had sex before we went and picked up Annie from school, Ymir."

"That was a quickie, though," whined the freckled woman. She rolled onto her side and pulled her girlfriend's back against her chest, nuzzling her shoudler gently in the meantime.

Christa glanced back at the taller female and smiled softly, "You dork." Patting Ymir's hand lightly as it stroked her stomach, the blonde woman sighed and stared at the opposite wall. "I just...don't understand, Ymir. How the world can be so violent and so cruel and yet, children come into this world and they're as sweet and quiet as Annie...how does that happen?"

Pressing a soft kiss to one pale shoulderblade, Ymir mumbled, "Because life is beautiful. It's sure as hell not fair though. You're fucking perfect and yet, your family is a bunch of- well, they're assholes, babe."

"Oh, you're being rather generous with them tonight," teased Christa.

"Leftover Christmas spirit, I tell ya," Ymir replied smartly. She sighed softly and nestled against her petite girlfriend's frame further, whispering, "There's still no sign of him. And child protective services needs his signature if you want this to happen."

"What could've happened to him though? Where is he hiding?"

"I dunno. If I did...the papers would be signed and Annie would be ours."

Crying softly, the woman said, "Ymir, I just want her to be safe and happy. And I think that we can provide her with both things..."

"We can, babe, we can, no worries," soothed Ymir.

[X]

School couldn't have ended soon enough and as Annie walked through the hallways with Braveheart in one hand while her other was occupying Christa's, she felt herself getting more anxious. The nurse at the front desk had politely told them which room Mikasa was in and commented on how nice Braveheart looked in his tie. When they arrived, Annie halted outside and looked up at Christa worriedly. "What if she doesn't accept my apology?"

"Then she's missing out on a wonderful friend," Christa replied simply. She reached out and knocked, calling softly, "Hello?"

A woman with black hair and gold eyes opened the door completely and smiled tiredly, asking, "Can I help you with something?" She looked down at Annie and her smile grew. "Oh, you must be one of Mikasa's friends from school! Come on in! She's awake!" She pushed the curtain aside and said, "Mikasa, one of your classmates is here!"

Mikasa sat up, smiling weakly until she caught sight of Annie. Her grey eyes widened and she muttered, "Oh. You came?"

Looking up at Christa once more with a determined look in her eyes, Annie stepped forward and said, "I came to say sorry. I was being mean and I shouldn't have hit you. Especially when you just wanted to be my friend." She hesitated for a moment before holding up Braveheart and asked, "Wanna hold him? He's my favorite."

Carla's eyes were wide as she exclaimed, "You must be Annie! I read your card to Mikasa! Did you draw the flower on the front?"

Annie nodded and Christa proudly stated, "She's extremely gifted when it comes to that. It is a very pretty likeness, isn't it?"

As the adults talked, Annie scurried up onto the hospital bed and handed Braveheart to the other girl. Mikasa examined him carefully, looking closely at his little black tie with the white heart at the bottom. "He's got a nice tie."

"It was a Christmas present from my mommy. She thought he'd look dashing in it."

"He does. What's his name?"

"Braveheart."

Mikasa fell silent again, blinking slowly before hugging the bear to her chest and smiling at Annie. "Thank you for sharing him. He's very nice."

Annie smiled, not knowing that Ymir was watching carefully.

[X]

 


	7. Relatives and sleepovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie meets Christa's friends from high school and also a sleepover with Mikasa.

Christa yawned, plopping onto the couch and tipping over to rest her head in Ymir's lap. "I'm so tired..." She pouted and reached up to run her hand over the freckled cheek of her girlfriend. "How did you put up with working nights for almost three years? I would've died."

"You would not," Ymir laughed. She bent her head, giving Christa a soft kiss, grinning as she heard hurried footsteps coming close. As the footsteps came to a halt, Ymir deepened the kiss, making Christa giggle and squirm.

"Ew, gross..."

The two women turned their heads to see Annie grumbling at them, arms crossed and pretty blue eyes narrowed. Christa pushed Ymir off and sat up, blushing brightly and looking at their daughter. "Sorry, sweetheart, did you need something?" She reached out, bringing the smaller blonde close and pulling her up onto the couch as well.

"What's up, lil bit?" Ymir chuckled, ruffling Annie's loose hair.

Annie huffed, swatting Ymir's hand away and muttering, "I was wondering if I could ask Mikasa to come over this weekend. Would that be ok?" Braveheart was very quickly pulled into Annie's grasp as she noticed him sitting at the end of the couch. Then, looking back up at her mother, the girl asked again, "Please? I'll be extra good and I won't even punch Reindeer."

Christa bit her lip to keep from laughing and said, "Annie, sweetheart, you can't call people names that they don't like."

"Christa, they're in kindergarten. They call each other names. Didn't you have a name back then?" Ymir asked with a grin. A bright blush swept over Christa's cheeks and she mumbled quietly, holding Annie tight. When she spoke against her daughter's shoulder, the response was muffled and incoherent. Ymir raised an eyebrow. "Uhm,  _what_?"

Annie turned her head to look at Ymir and said, "It sounded like she said Cinderella." Looking at Ymir, the six-year-old asked, "So what about you? You had a nickname?"

"Not until I got older and it's something that I really shouldn't be sayin' in front of you just yet." She stood, ruffled Annie's hair again, and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll tell you when you're older." She laughed, hearing the indignant huff from the little girl. Poking her head back out of the kitchen, Ymir said, "Hey, babe, we forgot to go grocery shopping yesterday."

The older blonde snapped her head up, narrowing her eyes. "I knew we forgot something." She turned her head when there was a knock on the door and she grinned, saying, "Ymir, I forgot to tell you we were gonna have company. And they were gonna bring dinner."

Ymir grimaced. "Oh God. It's her, isn't it? Her and that fu- freaking perfect boyfriend."

Christa set Annie down on the couch and whispered, "You're about to meet my best friend from high school. She's like a sister to me. She has her boyfriend with her, so be on your best behavior, ok?"

"Ok, mommy," Annie agreed softly. She held Braveheart closer, nuzzling his ear with her nose as she peeked over the couch to watch as Christa opened the door.

"Christa! Oh, it's been ages! How are you?" A woman with black hair in low pigtails stepped in, wrapping Christa in a hug while a taller man with freckles stood in the doorway with a smile. Speaking quietly, Annie's mother got the other woman to settle a little bit. "Oh, so I have a niece now?"

"Not official, just yet. But soon." Looking over to the couch, Christa called, "Annie, come here and meet your Aunt Mina." As she approached, Annie stared in wonder as the woman- Mina- knelt with a smile. Christa placed a gentle hand on her daughter's back and whispered, "Do you want me to introduce you?"

Annie shook her head and stuck out a hand, mumbling, "I'm Annie." She added, even softer, "It's nice to meet you."

Mina reached out, grasping Annie's hand gently. She gave it a soft shake and said, "My name is Mina and I'm so pleased to meet you, Annie." With a grin, she motioned over her shoulder at the man with freckles and stated, "That's Marco, my boyfriend. He's shy too, so no worries."

"I am not, Mina, stop telling people that," he laughed. Once Mina had stood up and gone back to talking to Christa, Marco sat down cross-legged in front of Annie and held out his arms. "If you're ok with it, I'd like to give you a hug." He smiled gently.

Annie grinned and laughed, "You're weird."

"That I am," Marco acknowledged. He began to lower his arms but was soon hugged by the little girl and smiled to feel her bear pressed between them. "So I get two hugs! One from you and one from your friend here!" As Annie pulled back, he asked, "What's his name?"

"Braveheart," the little girl replied.

Marco stuck out his hand and smiled brightly. "Hello, Braveheart, my name is Marco. It's a pleasure to meet you." He held his hand there expectantly until Annie held Braveheart's paw out and placed it against Marco's hand. The freckled man shook the bear's paw and said, "I'm honored to meet a bear as well-dressed as yourself. And your little blonde friend is very pretty too." He winked at Annie, making her blush and hide her face against Braveheart.

"Marco, don't tease her," Christa chided. She smiled and picked the little girl up, sticking her tongue out at her friend. "So what did you guys grab for dinner?" When she saw the look on the pair's faces, she raised a brow and asked, "It's gonna be pizza, isn't it?"

"Two large pepperoni pizzas, just like the good times," Mina announced. She followed Christa as they went into the living room and sat down beside Marco while Christa held Annie in her lap. Ymir finally entered the living room with a small cooler and set it on the coffee table. "Hi, Ymir! Still using your fake ID to get alcohol?" The shorter female asked. She grinned when the freckled woman batted at her knee.

"I didn't have to use a fake ID! Besides, this is just cola, so shut it." Looking over at her girls, Ymir asked, "You two want one?"

Christa nodded and so did Annie. As Ymir began to pop the tab on the can, Annie reached out and said, "I wanna do it!" Smirking, the brunette handed the can to the six-year-old and waited as she got her little fingers under the tab and managed to pop it open. Annie smiled proudly, smirking back at Ymir and muttered, "Can do it myself."

When the pizza arrived, Annie moved off of Christa's lap in favor of Mina's and managed to steal a few slices of pepperoni off of the woman's pizza. Mina would turn her head to speak to Marco and, while she was distracted, Annie reached onto her plate and grabbed the slices, popping them into her mouth as Mina turned back around. "You little-" Their plates were set aside as Mina took to tickling the little girl, making her squeal with giggles.

After a few more minutes of that, Marco plucked the girl out of his girlfriend's arms and pulled her onto his lap and smiled when Annie stifled her yawn behind her hands. Looking at Mina, he mouthed, " _'Bout time to head home_." With a smile, Marco leaned in and hugged Annie gently, saying, "We gotta go, Annie. I'm glad we got to meet." He handed her over to Christa who stood as well and held Annie on her hip.

Ymir was already grumbling about it being past Annie's bedtime and how the little girl would be cranky when she got up. Annie pouted, "Will not..." When Mina came in to say goodbye, Annie hugged the woman and said, "Bye, Aunt Mina. Bye, Uncle Marco." The family waved and when the door shut, Annie hid a yawn against Christa's shoulder. "You never said if it was ok or not..."

"Oh! Mikasa is absolutely allowed to stay over this weekend," Christa replied softly as she carried Annie to the bathroom. She set the girl down and said, "Brush your teeth. I'm gonna go grab your pajamas." As she went to the bedroom, she found Ymir already dozing. "What was that about who's bedtime?"

"Shoosh, you," grumbled the taller woman. She held a finger up to her lips and mumbled quietly, "Sleep."

After grabbing Annie's over-sized t-shirt and sweatpants, Christa smiled and turned off the overhead light, giggling, "You're such an overgrown child."

A muffled, "But you love me," was all the response that she got as the door softly shut and she went to get Annie ready for bed.

As her daughter changed, Christa brushed her teeth and then helped take the girl's hair out of the bun it was in. Running her fingers through Annie's hair, Christa asked, "Annie?"

"Hm?"

Pausing for a moment, Christa looked into the little girl's eyes and observed the light in them. She was an intelligent girl, if a little petulant when things did not go her way. But as she looked at the woman she now called mother, Annie smiled and nodded, almost as if she knew what was about to be asked of her. "If we ever find your dad...will you want to go back to him?"

Annie blinked and shook her head slowly, murmuring, "No. I want dad to get better. Ymir said that if someone can't even take care of themselves, they shouldn't be caring for a kid."

Picking her daughter up, Christa carried the little girl to bed and let her settle in comfortably before sitting on the edge of the bed. "Ymir can be pretty smart and kind, when she wants to be." Leaning over, the older of the pair tapped a kiss to Annie's lips and whispered, "Good night, sweet dreams and angels watch over you. I love you, Annie."

"I love you too, mommy. Good night, sweet dreams and angels watch over you too," mumbled Annie. Braveheart was clutched against her chest as she drifted off.

[X]

Friday afternoon was exciting for Annie as she stood outside of the school with Mikasa, Eren and Mrs. Jaeger. Kneeling to fix the scarf around Mikasa's neck, Mrs. Jaeger said gently, "Remember to be on your best behavior, Mikasa."

"I will, Miss Carla."

Eren grumbled, "You can call her mom, if you want. She won't care."

Mrs. Jaeger reached over, tweaking her son's ear; he yelped, covering his injured ear when she took her hand away. "Stop that, Eren. She can call me whatever she would like." She smiled and stood back up as Christa and Ymir approached. "I decided to wait with them and make sure they weren't going to just walk."

Ymir raised an eyebrow and looked at the little blonde kindergarten student. She glanced back up at her freckled guardian and shrugged, muttering, "It's a possibility."

"Not with traffic, it's not," Ymir snorted.

Christa, however, reached out and shook Carla's hand; she said, "Annie has been so excited all week for this. It's been difficult to get her to go to bed on time."

Mikasa and Annie looked at one another, shrugging as the adults talked. Eren stood off to his mother's side, glaring at the blonde girl. After a few more moments, Carla reached down to ruffle her son's hair and said, "C'mon. Let's go home so Mikasa can go play with her friend."

"But Annie was mean to her! How do we know this isn't some weird mind control? Girls can do that, y'know!" Eren protested, pulling back on his mother's hand and desperately trying to escape.

Ymir laughed as the two disappeared from sight and she took Annie's hand while Christa took Mikasa's. As they walked back to the apartment, Christa and Ymir kept up the conversation, finding Mikasa to be amazingly shy. However, her blush was nothing compared to Annie's when Mikasa daringly reached to hold her hand as they walked. Annie promptly let go of Ymir's hand to pull the hood of her jacket up and hide her face. "Oh my God, Annie, what- Christa. Christa, take a- nevermind, I'll do it." Ymir quickly pulled her phone out, managing to snap a picture of Mikasa holding Annie's hand before they let go. "That. That is gold."

Annie tugged on Ymir's jacket, saying, "No, delete that!" Once inside the apartment, the girls set their backpacks down and walked into the living room. "Ymir. Delete the picture," Annie demanded. She was hanging over the arm of the couch while Mikasa sat primly on the other end.

"Mm, no. I'm keeping it." Ymir grinned as she walked into the kitchen. "Christa's gonna make dinner. What do you two want?"

Annie asked, "Could we have meatloaf?"

Mikasa quietly said, "I'll eat anything." She blinked when Annie stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Don't you have a favorite or anything?"

"I really like grilled cheese," the Asian girl replied.

Turning back to her mother, Annie amended, "Grilled cheese instead."

Christa nodded and planted a kiss on the top of Annie's head, ignoring the protests from the little girl and said, "Grilled cheese it is." Turning to her girlfriend, Christa shoved her back and guided her into the kitchen. "You're going to keep me company. The girls are gonna watch a movie or something."

[X]

Dinner was soon finished and the whole group was sprawled over the couch. Christa was in Ymir's lap, head resting on the taller woman's shoulder. Meanwhile, as it was nearing the end of  _The Little Mermaid_ , Annie and Mikasa were dozing and the brunette was struggling to keep her head off of Annie's shoulder. Braveheart was sitting between the girls and had each paw in their hands. Christa smiled and reached for her cell phone, ignoring Ymir's raised brow. "What are you doing?"

"Just wait for it."

Sure enough, when the movie ended, Mikasa's head tilted and rested against Annie's shoulder while Annie rested her head against Mikasa's. The two girls were breathing softly and slowly and it was then that Christa snapped a picture. Annie blinked, lifting her head slightly and rubbing one sleepy eye. "What time s'it?"

"Time for bed," Ymir laughed.

Annie grumbled quietly but otherwise said nothing as she glanced at Mikasa. Christa asked, "Do you two want to share or should set some extra blankets and a pillow here on the couch?"

"We can share," the six-year-olds replied sleepily. Mikasa had, in fact, woken slightly as Annie shifted. They both got up and took turns to brush their teeth and get changed. As they stumbled back towards Annie's bed, Mikasa crawled in first, closer to the wall. Annie slid in behind her and settled with Braveheart against her chest.

Christa kissed Annie's cheek softly and then reached over to ruffle Mikasa's hair. "Sleep well, girls." They didn't reply, already beginning to doze off again.

[X]


	8. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sleepover continues and Annie's father makes an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a depiction of a character with schizophrenia. I did a lot of research, checked multiple medical sources and also talked to a close friend who is schizophrenic. I'm basing the character around my friend's case but, if you're offended or put off by the depiction, please let me know. I apologize now, ahead of time, rather than having anyone think I was trying to be disrespectful.

Annie sat up in bed, rubbing at her eyes as she heard movement in the kitchen. "Mommy?" As she was about to get up, she noticed that something was rustling the sheets and she looked over to see Mikasa shivering and curled into a little ball. "Mikasa, what's wrong? You 'wake?"

"I heard something moving and I got scared. If it was those bad men again." Her voice was little more than a strained whisper and tears had already begun to stain her cheeks. Barely a second passed before Braveheart was shoved into Mikasa's arms. She stammered, "What?" Her eyes snapped open to see Annie getting out of bed and going to the kitchen. "Annie, wait!"

"All right, if you're not my mommy or Ymir, you need to go, 'cause you're scaring Mika," the little girl announced as she stood on tip-toe to flick on the lights of the kitchen. Standing in front of the refridgerator was Ymir, looking slightly perturbed. Annie crossed her arms and pouted. "You need to learn how to be quiet. You woke up Mikasa and scared her."

Rolling her eyes, Ymir grumbled, "Pardon me for needing a midnight snack." After a minute or two of silent examination, the freckled woman smirked and put her hands on her hips. "Hey, wait a minute. Were you trying to protect Mikasa or something?"

Annie blushed all the way up to her ears, her mouth curling into an indignant pout. "No!" She turned when she heard a quiet mumble behind her. Mikasa stood in the doorway to the kitchen, eyes red from tears and clutching Braveheart close. The little blonde girl stuck her tongue out at Ymir before turning and grabbing Mikasa's hand. "Let's go back to sleep. It was just Ymir being a big dumb head."

"I'm _not_ a big dumb head!" Ymir protested. When she walked back through the living room, glass of water in hand, the freckled woman smiled to see Mikasa holding Braveheart while Annie held Mikasa. She frowned, feeling her phone vibrate. As she read the message, Ymir had to pause and read it again. **[The shelter saw him two days ago. They said he mentioned going "home" and when they asked where that was, he told them Trost.]**

**[Trost isn't a residential area though. It's all industrial.]**

**[There's a small homeless camp there. The cops aren't too concerned about it since that place is ransacked every other night. We're looking into it.]**

**[Keep me posted.]**

**[Ten-four.]**

She went back to bed, crawling in beside Christa. She whispered, "They missed him by two days."

At that, the blonde woman turned to look at her girlfriend and mumbled, "They're getting close though. Right?"

Ymir nodded, kissing Christa's cheek. "Yeah. They're close." They stayed quiet for a moment, holding one another. A smile slowly spread on Ymir's face as she felt tiny kisses being pressed against her collarbone. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Kissing your freckles."

"It is pitch black in here. You can't see shit."

There was a pause and Ymir felt the smaller female grin. "I've memorized them."

Ymir laughed and rolled on top of Christa. "Oh, sure you have." They wrestled blindly, struggling to keep their laughter down. In minutes, Christa was giggling breathlessly while Ymir reached over to turn on the light. The taller woman brought her girlfriend into a tight hug and murmured, "You laugh at me for what I'm about to say and I promise that I will keep you locked out of this room for a week." When Christa nodded her understanding, Ymir said, "I've kinda missed just getting to wrestle around and stuff. It's been...I dunno, just weird. We've both been so exhausted...I've just missed you a lot, ok?"

Instead of trying to stifle giggles, as Ymir had expected, Christa chose to cuddle closer and reply, "I've missed you too. I adore Annie and I'm glad that we found her. But between balancing work and a young daughter that isn't officially ours yet..."

"It's tough. But we're managing. I'm terrified for when she becomes a teenager. Can _we_ put her up for adoption _then_?"

Christa gasped, "Ymir!" "Ow, ow, ow, it was a joke," Ymir whined. "Damn you hit hard." The blonde woman smiled and drew herself up proudly. "Not bad for someone so tiny, huh?"

Ymir laughed and glanced at the clock, suddenly groaning. "It's two AM. We need sleep." She hissed in pain as Christa smacked one of her bare thighs and asked, "What the hell was that for?"

"You didn't let me sleep earlier after we put the girls to bed." She grinned. "I think it's time to repay the gesture."

[X]

When Annie finally woke up, Mikasa was out of bed and watching cartoons with Ymir while Christa made breakfast. "Annie, sweetheart, it's time to get up! We're gonna have breakfast and then go to the park!" At that, Annie hopped out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen to cling to her mother's leg. Christa giggled and reached down with one hand to pat Annie's touseled hair. "Good morning. How about you go get dressed so we're ready to go?"

As Annie walked back through the living room, Mikasa turned her attention away from the screen and quietly greeted, "G'morning."

"Mornin', Mikasa," was the only reply to be had as Annie went to get dressed.

While Annie was gone, Mikasa stood and went to the kitchen, walking up to Christa with little hesitation. "Miss Christa?" "Hm? What is it, Mikasa?" She looked plaintive for a moment before finally asking, "Have I made Annie cry? If I did, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to." Her composure started cracking then as she stood beside Christa; tears began to run down her cheeks as she cried, "I'm really sorry, Miss Christa."

Christa knelt and whispered, "Hey, hey, no, Mikasa. No, it's ok." She pulled the little girl close, letting her cry. As the child started to finally calm down, the blonde woman said, "It's really ok, Mikasa. C'mon and look at me." She held the little girl at arms' length and smiled gently. "You and Annie are friends now. You just had a little problem telling each other what you meant. It's ok. You both are ok." Mikasa simply stared at Christa with big, grey eyes and sniffled, starting to apologize yet again. "Hey, it's all right. C'mere, let's dry those tears."

Annie walked in at that moment, dressed in a Pikachu shirt and cargo shorts. "Uh. Did I do something wrong?" She looked up worriedly at her mother and then at Mikasa. When Christa shook her head and smiled, Annie raised one brow incredulously. She walked over to Mikasa and hugged the other girl, saying, "If I did somethin' wrong, I'm sorry, Mikasa. We're still friends, right?" When Mikasa hugged her back fiercely and nodded, Annie smiled. "So can we eat? I'm hungry and I wanna go play on the monkey bars."

Standing back up, the older blonde handed two plates with a waffle and slice of bacon on each to the girls. "Go eat. Then, we'll go to the park."

[X]

Annie giggled breathlessly, running across the bridge of the jungle gym as Mikasa ran after her. "You'll never take me alive!" She neared the slide and jumped on, squealing happily as her feet hit the tiny pebbles underneath. "Can't catch me, Mikasa!"

"We'll see about that!" Mikasa shouted back and she slid under one of the bars and leapt from the jungle gym, quickly chasing her friend again. She eventually caught up to the blonde girl and grabbed the back of her shirt. "Gotcha!" They slowed, finally coming to a halt in a field of clover not too far from the bench where Ymir and Christa were sitting and watching. Annie fell back in the clover, looking up at the clouds. Mikasa joined with little hesitation and pointed, "Hey, look, that one looks like a dog!"

"Nuh-uh, it looks like a giraffe." After a few minutes, Annie pointed and said, "What about that one- the one that looks like a bunny?"

"Oh, yeah, it does look like a bunny. It even has a fluffy tail," Mikasa giggled. The girls fell silent for a while, watching the clouds pass. After a time, the Asian girl whispered, "You were really brave last night."

Annie looked over to see Mikasa staring at her. Their eyes met and held as the blonde girl replied, "You woulda done the same. You're brave too, Mikasa."

The other girl frowned slightly and averted her eyes. "I dunno if I can."

Sitting up, Annie reached over and poked Mikasa's forehead roughly, making the other girl flinch. "Yeah, you can." She stood up and reached out to Mikasa. With a grin, she asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Huh?"

Annie urged her hand forward, placing it within reach of Mikasa's hand as she asked, "Do you trust me?" Her grin grew wider.

Mikasa took her friend's hand and stood, smiling. "Yeah."

"Then, c'mon!" They ran back off to the monkey bars, trying again to make it from one side to the other without dropping.

[X]

"Friedrick? Friedrick Leonhardt?"

Grey eyes widened as the man scurried into the tent he had found. "Don't come near me. They say I can't trust you."

"Friedrick, we're just trying to help you." Marlowe sighed softly and rubbed the back of his neck, inching forward. "Please? We wanna help you get better. Have you been taking anything?"

"No needles! Promise there won't be any needles!" Dirty blonde hair hung in a dank mess in the man's eyes, making him look more ragged than he should. "The needles hurt before they help."

Marlowe's eyes widened as he knelt and held out a hand. "I'm not supposed to make promises I can't keep. But I can promise that we're gonna help you. Do you wanna see Annie again?"

"Annie?" He inched out of the tent slowly. "Annie's safe? They haven't hurt my baby girl?"

"No, she's safe and healthy. But you have to come with us so you can get better. Or else you can't see her. You know that, right, Friedrick?" Marlowe glanced back at his partner for back-up but saw that she was hardly interested. He rolled his eyes before saying, "Annie was the one that told us you disappeared. She was scared for you." Friedrick slowly came out of the tent completely and shuffled hesitantly towards the young officer.

"If I get better, can I at least say hello to her?"

"Mr. Leonhardt, if you get better, you could take her home again. You just need to-"

"No! No, no, no!" he shouted. He covered his ears and rocked on his heels. "She needs a good home. And a mother. She needs her mother. I'm no good for her."

Marlowe frowned slightly and gestured to the police car. "We're gonna take you to a hospital, all right? And they're gonna give you the help you need, ok?" When he got a nod in return, the slightly shorter man smiled and said, "Ok." After getting Friedrick secured in the backseat and coming around to get in the driver's seat, Marlowe questioned, "Why do you think that even if you get better, you can't be a good father to Annie?"

"Because I left her. I left her and when the voices were sleeping again, I couldn't find her. Even if I get better, I already hurt her. I want to go to a home. An assisted living. So I can get better. And see her sometimes. Do you think they'll let me do that?" He sounded hopeful, despite being in the back of a patrol car. His grey eyes were tearful as they pulled up to the emergency room. As Marlowe led him inside, Friedrick looked down and said, "Thank you."


	9. Court Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The papers get signed. But the day doesn't go as smoothly as they had hoped.

Christa waited patiently while Ymir spoke quietly on the phone, gently stroking Annie's hair as she dozed in the older girl's lap. Braveheart was, as ever, cradled against the little girl's chest. As soon as the freckled woman hung up, Christa whispered, "They've found him?"

"Yeah, they found him. He's getting treatment. Apparently he got addicted to heroin and some other bad stuff while he was out there. Had a lot of positive symptoms. Marlowe found him when he was lucid though." Ymir paused and glanced at Annie as she slept. Then, returning her attention to Christa, the taller female sat in the armchair and sighed, "They're going to put him into a treatment program as well as an assisted living complex. Which he asked for while completely lucid. And he made it very clear that he wanted to sign over his rights." Ymir bit her knuckles.

"Even though I'm glad that Annie will finally be ours...I'm still so sorry that Mr. Leonhardt has to go through all this. He must be in so much pain." She looked down at her daughter, looking torn over the recent development. Christa startled slightly when a hand landed on her shoulder. "What?"

Ymir smiled. "C'mon. Let's put Annie to bed. Then, we'll put on one of those old shows you like so much and relax." She gently scooped Annie off the couch, muttering, "All right, lil bit, time for bed."

Annie's eyes fluttered and she mumbled drowsily, "Mir?"

"Yeah?"

"You're nice." She did not resist as Ymir set her down in the bathroom and helped her get dressed for bed. Nor did she resist the assistance in getting her teeth brushed. When Ymir pulled the blankets up to Annie's chin, she smirked and turned to walk out, thinking that Annie was already back to sleep. She halted, however, at hearing a soft murmur. "I like you, Mir. You're nice."

The woman blushed, her cheeks heating up significantly. She stood in the doorway, flabbergasted. "I...I like you too, lil bit. Now go to sleep. You've got school tomorrow." After a minute, she added snidely, "And you get to see Mikasa again." Ymir laughed at the pillow that was thrown her way and fell quite short.

"I take it back. I still don't like you."

"Feeling's mutual, kiddo." With that, she went and sat on the couch with Christa. "I still don't understand how you can watch animal documentaries and be genuinely interested in them."

Christa raised an eyebrow and elbowed her girlfriend's side. "I want to be a veternarian, you dick." She smiled, watching the documentary about wolves. "I hope I can actually assist at a zoo or something. I love wolves. They're so beautiful."

Ymir rolled her eyes. "I think you'd be a wolf, if you could." She snorted. "A big, furry, white one!"

The blonde gasped, eyes growing wide. "Oh, God, that would be so awesome!"

"You've been reading that book again, haven't you? The one about the wolf queen."

"But that one is so good!" Christa grinned and nestled against Ymir's side, slipping her fingers between the older woman's. "Ymir?" She got a grunt in response, signalling that she had been heard. When no other response came, Christa rolled her eyes. "Thank you for taking care of all the bills. With my allowance every month and my paycheck, I'm barely scraping by to pay for my classes."

Ymir shrugged. "Hey, you need to go to class and shit. I get that. I'm fine doing manual labor. For now. After you get your job as a fancy little animal doctor, it'll be my turn." She grinned and tapped a kiss to Christa's forehead.

[X]

As Petra's class let out for recess, Annie sat under one of the various trees, knees pulled up to her chest. She had remained silent all morning, only replying a simple "I'm ok" when questioned by Mikasa. She looked up when Bertholdt plopped down beside her. "Go away, Bert."

"No. I'm worried about you." He pulled his own knees up, hugging them as he looked at his friend. "You're one of my best fwiends and I wanna help."

She blinked and looked over, watching Eren tug Mikasa around by the hand. "Mommy said that the police found my dad. And that soon, I won't be...uhm." She blinked. "I don't remember how she said it but mommy said that I'll just be hers and Ymir's soon."

"That's good though, wight? You wanna be Chwista's!" Bertholdt had been introduced when the families discovered that their parent-teacher conferences with Petra were scheduled nearly on top of each other. He frowned and reached over, hugging Annie. "I want you to smile, Annie. You're my fwiend. And you should be happy." The pair stayed close for the rest of recess and the boy spoke up in Annie's stead during class.

After the bell rang, Petra went to Annie's desk and knelt beside her. She waved to Bertholdt, gently sending him on his way as she turned to speak to the little girl. "Annie? You've been absolutely silent today. I'm kind of worried. Is something going on at home?" She pushed some of her red hair behind her ear and waited as the six-year-old looked at her warily. "It's ok, Annie."

"I don't know what t'say." She glanced at the doorway, catching sight of Christa. "Hi, mommy..."

"Hi, sweetheart," Christa said softly. "Ms. Ral, we have to go. We have some important matters to attend to. Annie's biological father was found and we're signing papers today that will get the process for adoption into the final stages."

Petra stood. "Annie was absolutely silent today. I was just worried." After Annie had returned wearing her backpack, the redhead smiled and said, "Bye, Annie. See you later."

"Bye, Ms. Ral." She glanced at her mother but then turned back to Petra and mumbled, "Have a good day." Then, taking Christa's hand, she walked out to the car. As soon as she was buckled in and Christa was seated as well, Ymir drove off. Quietly, Annie asked, "Am I gonna see him?"

"You don't have to if you don't wanna, lil bit," Ymir stated. She glanced in the rearview mirror, catching the little girl's eyes. She reached back and handed Braveheart to Annie just as they pulled up to the courthouse. "You looked like you needed him." Ymir smirked and got out of the car, waiting patiently for Christa and Annie. Annie walked between them as they entered, meeting their case worker just outside the courtroom. "Hey, Brzenska."

"Ymir. I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd actually address me with some respect." She looked down at Annie and gave a smirk. "Hey, kiddo."

"Hi, Miss Brzenska." She smiled shyly, clinging to Christa's skirt. Braveheart dangled in her other arm.

"C'mon, we're gonna go to a different room while the judge talks to your moms, ok?" When Annie nodded, Rico took her hand and led the little girl away. Annie looked back over her shoulder, waving at Ymir and Christa.

[X]

"Have you seen him?" Annie sat in the floor with Braveheart; a Rubix cube was in her hands as she looked at her social worker.

Rico raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Annie, you really shouldn't see him, you know."

"He's not mean. Dad wouldn't hurt anyone." She looked at Rico steadily. "I just wanna know if he's ok." After a few more moments of messing with her cube, Annie jumped to her feet when Ymir and Christa came back in. "Mommy!" She leapt into Christa's arms and cuddled close to her. "Am I yours now?"

"Yeah, honey, you're ours now." She kissed Annie gently on her cheeks, giggling happily.Ymir joined in, holding both of the blonde girls closely. "How about we go get something to eat to celebrate?"

"Can we have pizza?" Annie asked.

Ymir grinned. "Pizza to celebrate? I'm definitely in on that."

Rico shook her head, smiling softly. "You're all ridiculous. I'll walk you outside and I'll let you know how things go from now on." As they began walking, Annie tagged along, holding Ymir's hand. She smiled up at her parents as she held Braveheart close. "Now. I'm gonna check in on Annie every few weeks or so. Just to make sure everything is going well." They stood at the doors as she explained, "I'm sure everthing will be perfectly fine though." She looked up, hearing footsteps draw near. Her eyes widened. "Marlowe, you were-" Rico groaned. "You were supposed to wait half an hour..."

Friedrick's eyes widened as he saw Annie. "Hi, baby girl."

Annie froze, staring at her father. His appearance was completely different from how she remembered. The once large, muscular giant was gone and in his place stood a limping, sunken faced man. "Hi, dad..."

He knelt. "I'm sorry. About...about everything. I won't bother you 'cause I know you're gonna be real happy with these two lovely ladies." His voice grew thick with emotion. "I want you to know I love you, Annie." He began to move his hand into his pocket but halted, looking up at his escort. "Can I give it to her? What I showed you?"

Marlowe nodded, watching carefully. "All right."

Friedrick grabbed a silver necklace from his pocket, gently cradling it in his other palm. "This was your mother's necklace." His eyes stung with tears as he slipped it over his daughter's head. "You look just like her." Then, he whispered, "I love you, princess." He stood and said, "I'm ready to go."

The six-year-old stood silently, watching him go. Afterwards, she looked up at her mother and mumbled, "Can we go home now?"

Christa nodded and grabbed the little girl, scooping her into a hug as they headed back to the car. They were far out of Rico's sight by the time Annie began to cry into Christa's shoulder, sobbing heavily. Rather than sitting in the front seat, Christa sat with Annie in the backseat, holding her as she cried. "It's ok, baby, it's all right. You were so strong..." She rubbed Annie's back, continuing to try and soothe her.

[X]

Annie sat nestled on Ymir's lap as Christa instead decided to cook instead of get pizza. The freckled woman held Annie tightly, petting her blonde hair softly. "Hey, lil bit. You were damn strong today. You're a great kid." She choked back her tears, holding Annie protectively.

"I just want dad to get better. He needs to be happy. He didn't do anything wrong." Braveheart was pressed between Annie and Ymir. His soft, plush fur was a comforting feeling against them and Ymir smiled softly.

"It's gonna be fine, Annie. Your dad will be all right."

"Promise?"

Ymir raised an eyebrow and sat back, looking at Annie incredulously. "Why else would I say it, brat?"

Annie shouted, "Mommy, Ymir is calling me brat!"

"Ymir, stop that," Christa called from the kitchen.

"Ok, no, c'mon, you can't just believe her! I didn't even do anything!" Ymir groaned and flipped the TV on. "I'm ignoring you both."

"That's great, considering I just finished dinner. C'mon, Annie, honey. Time to eat." As the little girl hopped off of Ymir's lap and sprinted into the kitchen, she was closely followed by Ymir and Christa. "Ymir, do you have the day off tomorrow?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, no but I can call in. I have time off." She looked at the blonde woman and muttered, "Think it'd be best for lil bit?"

Christa nodded. They sat in relative silence, save for Christa asking Annie how school went. After dinner had finished and Ymir went to clean the dishes as the two blondes readied themselves for bed. "I think it's time to cuddle and play video games and stay up until we can't anymore. And tomorrow? We sleep in."

[X]


	10. Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Annie gets older, she grows more frustrated with her classmates and finds herself getting into altercations in school. As an outlet, Ymir suggests martial arts classes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long. My health has been rather poor for a while.

Annie crossed her arms, sitting on the bench outside of the principal’s office yet again. At eight-years-old, the girl was still slightly shorter than most of her classmates and was incredibly eager to prove herself stronger. So whenever someone got to calling her short, Annie got around to beating them up. At least, she told Ymir that she would beat them up. Usually, she only got a couple hits in before a teacher would notice and stop the fight. Ymir and Christa were in the principal’s office, leaving Annie outside; as footsteps approached, she paid no mind until someone sat beside her and asked, “Annie, did something happen?”

Looking up resulted in Annie’s eyes meeting with Ms. Ral’s, making her blink in slight surprise. “Hi, Ms. Ral.” She paused, considering the easy option of just shrugging it off and saying it was nothing important but instead chose to reply, “I got into another fight.”

“Oh, Annie. Why?” Petra’s brows knit together as she rested her hands in her lap, waiting to hear her former student’s rendition of events.

“They called me short. Tiny. They said I couldn’t catch them.” She looked up again, a matter of fact tone to her voice as she announced, “But I could. And I did. And so I punched them.”

Petra sighed softly, resting a hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Annie, you can’t solve everything with violence. Those kids will continue to tease you, whether you beat them up or not. You just have to be the bigger person and own up to things. If you’re tiny for the rest of your life, who cares? Your mom is tiny. What can she do?”

"She goes to work at the vet’s office. She takes care of animals.”

“And some of them are probably big dogs, right?”

Annie nodded enthusiastically. “There was a really big one. Called a Leonberger. Mom said I could get one when we finally get our own house.”

“That’s great! But sometimes, those animals that your mom works with? They probably get scared and struggle and that means she has to hold them so the vet can do their job. And that’s a big job for someone so small.” Petra smiled a bit. “Take me for instance. I’m small. Much smaller than my partner. And sometimes they’ll get so into one of their projects that they will exhaust themself and fall asleep in the study. So I pick them up and carry them to our room.”

“How much bigger is your partner?”

Reaching into her back pocket, the redhead pulled out a picture and showed it to Annie. “This is Hanji. They’re my partner. And see? They’re much taller than me.”

Annie smiled but grew pensive. “But it still makes me angry when they call me short and stuff. It makes me wanna hit them.”

At that moment, Ymir and Christa stepped out and the freckled woman glanced at Petra before picking Annie up and throwing her over her shoulder, saying, “Ok, lil bit, you’re taking martial arts classes.” She waved at Petra with her free hand and said, “Thanks for talking to her while we were busy, Petra.”

Christa rolled her eyes and ran up to shake the woman’s hand, quietly mumbling, “Thank you, Ms. Ral, really.” She hefted Annie’s backpack over her shoulder and ran outside after Ymir, struggling to bite back a giggle at the sight of Annie beating her small fists against the freckled woman’s broad back. “Annie, sweetheart, don’t hit.”

“Tell Ymir to put me down!” Annie struggled, attempting to kick her feet as Ymir wrapped an arm around the girl’s legs. “Ymir, _put me down_!”

“Sorry, lil bit. But you gotta chill out.” She waited outside of the car until the girl stopped struggling, falling limp and grumbling unhappily. “Better?”

“Yeah...” She huffed when she was set back on her feet and Ymir unlocked the car, letting Annie hop into the backseat. As she waited for her parents to get in, Annie contemplated what Ms. Ral had said, feeling a small smile come to her face. Once Christa was seated, Annie spoke up. “Mom?”

“Yes, what is it, sweetheart?” Christa turned slightly in her seat as Ymir started driving. She reached back, gently catching her daughter’s hand.

“Do you think I’m a bad kid?”

Christa shook her head and smiled. “Of course not. I’m not saying that you’re not in trouble- because you are- I’m just saying that just because you’ve been getting into fights doesn’t make you a bad kid. And it certainly doesn’t make me love you any less.” When Annie smiled at that, Christa gave a grin. “Now. Is there a certain martial arts class that you want to take?”

“Not karate. Everyone does that.”

Ymir laughed. “Good kid. Karate is too mainstream.”

“Ymir, I _swear_ , if you go on a tangent about-”

“I’m _not_ , I promise! I’m just saying. I can’t imagine lil bit actually enjoying that.” She glanced in the rearview mirror at the blonde child and asked, “Right, lil bit?”

Annie nodded. “Right.” She paused for a few moments before adding, “Did you know that Mikasa got adopted too?”

Christa smiled. “No, we didn’t, but that’s wonderful to hear! Was it Dr. Jaeger and his wife?” Her eyes widened marginally when Annie shook her head. “Oh? Then who?”

“She said that their names are Sasha and Connie. And they’re really nice.” She paused. “Mikasa said that Connie is kind of short for a boy. And he’s really out there. But he’s still nice. And she said that Sasha likes to cook a lot.”

“Oh, man. Sasha and Connie? Damn. I almost feel sorry for the kid.” When Christa reached over and slapped Ymir’s arm, the freckled woman feigned injury. Realizing that this was getting nowhere with her blonde girlfriend, Ymir rolled her eyes. “I went to school with them. Connie was a year behind me and Sasha was in my class. She’s one hell of a cook, I’ll give her that. And she hunts. Like...legitimately hunts. Bow and arrows kind of hunting. And Connie...well, I got along with the guy. Mostly. He was kind of a dweeb.” She pulled into the parking lot of their apartment and sighed. “She’s in good hands.”

Annie nodded. She was happy that, once inside, Christa let her have a small reprieve. Sitting on her bed, Annie contemplated what had happened. A boy named Thomas had waited until Mikasa was away from the blonde to come up and start teasing her about how short she was. It only progressed from there when he mentioned her nose and the sharp curve it had. That was when Annie had first thrown the punch. She knew she was small and she knew her nose looked a little different. But Reiner and Bertholdt both had similarly shaped noses. The only difference was that Annie was shorter and deemed an easier target. Annie looked up when her bed dipped and Christa sat down with a weak smile. “I’m sorry if I made you angry, mom.”

“Honey, I’m not angry.” She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m just disappointed.”

The shorter blonde felt her heart drop a little at the statement. She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them as she mumbled, “I’m really sorry, mom.”

Christa reached over, putting a hand on top of Annie’s head and replying, “Sweetheart, I just don’t want to see you get hurt and end up having a hard time later on. Getting into fights all the time isn’t good. It looks really bad on a student record. You might have trouble getting into a decent college. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”

“But why do they keep picking on me?”

“Because...” Christa sighed. “Because there are some people who are just cruel and they have fun picking on other people. There are others who do it because if they don’t, their insecurities will make them vulnerable to others.” After a brief pause, the older blonde added, “And honestly, some of them are just plain _stupid_.”

“Well, Thomas is pretty stupid.”

“There y’go.” Ymir stood in the doorway, her smirk grew as she joined the pair of blondes, sitting on Christa’s other side. “Wanna do some research with me on the different martial arts? We’ll watch a couple videos and see them in action. Then you can decide.”

Christa grinned, kissing Ymir’s freckled cheek. “That’s a wonderful idea!” She got up, mentioning that she probably needed to make something to eat.

As soon as she was out of earshot, however, Annie looked at Ymir with a deadpan stare. “You just did that for brownie points, didn’t you?”

“You’re damn right I did.” Ymir knew she was only being partially truthful. She had a soft spot for Annie; after all, the kid was blonde and blue-eyed like Christa but her snark and pugilistic tendencies leant her more towards Ymir’s own childhood. She reached over and ruffled Annie’s hair, skewing it from the nice bun that Christa had done. “C’mon, let’s go do some research.”

“Ymir! You ruined my hair!”

[X]

Shortly after their meal, Annie found herself on the couch beside Ymir, watching a video of a man praying with his trainer. Then, during the match, her eyes widened as each man moved with their whole body to execute punches and kicks, their movements flowing into brutal hits. “I wanna do this one, Ymir!”

“You wanna do- what the hell is th- _Muay Thai?_ ” Her brows knitted together as she watched the intense elbow strikes of the last match, wincing at the way it connected with the other fighter’s head. “Uhm. All right. Let’s see...looks like you’re gonna need to do a lot of training and stuff, lil bit. Maybe you should wait until you’re a little older for this one.”

“No, I wanna start learning now.” She pointed. “Look, that even says that there should be a children’s class!”

“All right, all right, let’s look into it.” As they browsed several pages, Annie grew progressively more interested. They looked over several gyms and training facilities that offered classes for children. “Here’s one. For kids six to twelve-years-old.” She glanced Annie who had perked up again. “It’s only twenty minutes from here. You wanna sign up for it?”

“Yeah, I do. I really do.” She paused. “Will they accept me? When we read through the history, it said that teachers looked for very special students. Ones who were honest and-” She frowned. “What was the other thing?”

“Humble. They want you to know humility and discipline. So that you know when to use the art and when to simply not punch someone in the face.” Ymir sighed softly. “All right, lil bit. We’ll get you signed up tomorrow. And you can start to get your aggression out in a more productive way.” When Annie simply smiled, Ymir chuckled. They turned the laptop off and set it aside, settling down to watch a movie. Christa joined them shortly after, shifting Annie to sit on her lap. Braveheart had made his way into the mix as well, getting clutched to Annie’s chest. He was a faithful companion.

[X]

As the months wore on, Annie found herself staying out of fights and rather spending her time with Mikasa during recess. They would sometimes read until their teacher called for them. Other times, it was spent with Annie explaining how her classes were going for Muay Thai. Bertholdt, Reiner and Armin sat quietly as Eren listened with eagerness. He asked about learning some of the moves but Annie refused. “I can’t.”

“What? Why not?” Eren demanded.

“Because I’m not a teacher. And it would probably just hurt you. We don’t have gloves- no mitts, no bags. Besides, I don’t want to disrespect my teachers.”

Eren grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “You just don’t wanna show me ’cause you don’t want any competition.”

Annie bristled at the remark, making a move to stand and get into her stance before Mikasa piped up, chastising, “Eren, stop it. Annie is learning it for a reason. She has more experience with it and I’ve wrestled with her a couple times at my house. It’s not something to do at school.” Eren gaped at her, his mouth trying to work at forming words. When the call went up for everyone to line up, Mikasa and Annie were the first to get up and go. Mikasa mumbled quietly, “I’m sorry. Eren has always been eager to learn stuff like that.” She paused. “But I wanted you to teach me as well.”

“Well...I technically can’t. But I could show you the conditioning and stuff. And maybe you could start going to classes too.” Annie blinked, noticing the slight smile on Mikasa’s face. “After you learn a bit, we could spar.” She grinned. “I could totally beat you though.”

A spark came to Mikasa’s eyes at that and she smirked. “Could not. I would win.”

The challenge was set and Annie felt herself looking forward to when Mikasa began classes. That evening, as they had arranged, Annie found herself in the car and on her way to spend the night at Mikasa’s house. Christa was driving, as Ymir had stayed home to clean up the mess she had made while attempting to cook. “Mom?”

“What is it, sweetheart?” Christa kept her eyes on the road but she smiled and reached to turn the radio down; it was her way of letting Annie know that she had her full attention.

“Are you proud of me?”

At the next stop sign, Christa paused to look at her daughter and said, “Yes, Annie. I’m very proud of you.” She smiled softly and leaned over to kiss the girl on the top of her head. “Why wouldn’t I be? You’ve been getting good grades and you’re not fighting in school anymore. Besides that, you’re an absolute sweetheart.” She grinned at Annie. “And you’ve won all of your sparring matches so far.”

“Not all, mom! I lost my first one!”

“Oh, well, it’s fine. You’re still doing great.” As they pulled up to the house- a small duplex- and got out of the car, Annie once again checked her backpack to make sure that Braveheart was securely placed. Christa noticed but said nothing and instead knocked on the door. As they waited, the older blonde whispered, “Did you remember everything?”

“Yes,mom.”

“Toothbrush?”

“Yep.”

“PJs?”

“Yes’m.”

“Clean underwear?”

“ _Mom_ ,” Annie whined.

Christa giggled, “Ok, ok, I’m sorry. I was just checking.” She smiled as the door opened. “Hi, Connie!” She peeked behind the man and said, “Hey, Sasha!”

“Hi, Christa!” Mikasa peeked from around Connie’s legs and smiled, holding her hand out and pulling Annie inside. As they went off towards Mikasa’s room, Connie asked, “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m good. Relieved, now that Annie isn’t having so much trouble.” She smiled. “And you guys?”

Sasha came up beside her boyfriend and laughed. “Oh, Connie’s been listening to his records and stuff again. Annie is in for it tonight. He’s in the mood to dance.”

Connie smirked. “I had Mikasa standing on my feet and dancing with me just before you got here!”

Christa giggled. “Oh, I’m not sure Annie would enjoy that. But if you can convince her, take pictures and send them to me.” She grinned wider at Connie’s wink and waved, turning back towards her car.

Annie set her bag down at the foot of Mikasa’s bed and scurried up to sit next to her friend. “So what do you want to do first?” Mikasa pondered for a minute. “Do you wanna play Legend of Zelda with me? My mom and dad have been letting me play with their old N64.” When Annie nodded, the pair started up a new game and laughed at each other when they hummed each tune. After a while, they wandered out into the kitchen and managed to pilfer a couple of Connie’s favorite Pop Tarts. Sasha noticed but said nothing as Connie was switching another record.

Sasha was cooking, making apple fritters in a light, sweet batter. “Girls, come on! I have fresh apple fritters!” Sasha called. Within seconds, the two girls came rushing out of Mikasa’s room, their socked feet lightly sliding on the hardwood floor when they came to a stop. As they munched on the treats, Sasha knelt and asked, “Mikasa, do you wanna dance with dad again? He’s been enjoying that a lot.”

“Yeah,” Connie said, “c’mon!” He came up behind Mikasa and bent slightly when she looked up at him. “Will you share this dance with me?”

The music was upbeat- something old, Annie suspected, if the synthesized bass had anything to do with it- and fun. And Annie watched as Connie placed Mikasa’s tinier feet on top of his and they swayed in a slightly bouncy manner to the beat. Sasha was giggling and the younger blonde smirked. Mikasa was laughing as her adoptive father pulled her up and hugged her tight as he began to dance in earnest. The nights spent at Mikasa’s house were always boisterous and filled with laughter. Annie found it a little bit grating at first but grew to quietly appreciate the openness with which Sasha and Connie loved her friend. And that was more than enough to make Annie smile.

[X]


	11. Training and Time Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Mikasa spend time together during trying times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, this story is still happening!

There were some days during the week that Christa would watch Reiner and Bertholdt after school until their parents came to get them. Ymir usually plopped on the couch and watched TV but, on occasion, got a show of her own when Reiner instigated a wrestling match with Annie. “Get ‘im, lil bit!”

Christa shouted worriedly from the kitchen, “Ymir, don’t encourage them!” After a couple seconds, she peeked out and asked, “Is everyone ok?” On the floor of their living room, she spotted Annie and Reiner wrestling; it was more Annie capitalizing on Reiner’s somewhat broader frame and managing to pin his legs. “Kids, be careful.”

Reiner glanced up, red-faced and sweating slightly, to grin at Christa and cheerily reply, “No worries, mom, we’re good!”

“Uh, newsflash, _weirdo_ , that’s _my_ mom,” Annie growled as she grabbed one of Reiner’s arms and wrenched it up to his back. He cried in slight pain and the smaller blonde grinned proudly. Looking at Ymir, the blue-eyed girl asked, “Do they _have_ to come over after school?”

Ymir nestled herself back on the couch and hummed, scratching one freckled cheek. “Well, your mom said she’d watch them. And honestly, I don’t see why you’d be against Bertholdt being over. All he does is sit there, breathe and read a damn book.” Bertholdt looked up for a moment, flushing slightly but offering no argument. “See?”

Glancing at the taller boy, Annie then looked back at Ymir and said, “Yeah, but he’s _Bertl_. I don’t mind if he’s around ‘cuz he’s not obnoxious like Reindeer.”

“H-hey!” The blonde boy grunted when his smaller companion wrenched harder on his arm. “Ow! Annie, c’mon, get off already, you won!” He gasped when the little girl got off and fell limp on the floor. “Jerk...” he muttered into the carpet.

Christa answered her cell phone after the tone began, barely letting it go through the first ring as she cheerily said, “Hey!” She paused. “Oh, Sasha, what’s up?” Her face grew contemplative as she turned and walked down the hallway, going into the bedroom and closing the door. “What’s going on?”

“ _Well, Mikasa is in therapy because she started having nightmares about the burglary, y’know? Connie and I had a talk with Mikasa’s therapist and she suggested that someone who is really close to Mikasa come to her EMDR treatments. So, we were wondering..._ ”

The line fell quiet as Christa thought. “Do you think she would really be ok with Annie going to her sessions?”

Sasha sighed. “ _Well...we kind of thought that Mikasa’s therapist could suggest it and just let Mikasa ask. We don’t want her to feel like we’re forcing her._ ”

The blonde woman nodded. “That’s a good idea. We’ll wait and let Mikasa ask Annie first. If that doesn’t work, I can talk to Annie...”

“ _Oh my God, Christa, thank you so much. We just want Mikasa to be ok and- Annie is like- the girls are competitive but they’re close! Connie and I are just worried._ ”

“I get it, Sash,” Christa replied softly, “don’t worry. Mikasa is gonna be fine, we just have to let her know we’re all here for her and that what happened won’t happen again.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. “Talk to you later?”

“ _Yeah, later. Thanks, Christa!_ ”

The line went dead and Christa laughed, tucking the phone into her back pocket again. When she went out, Annie was propped up on the couch with her arms crossed over the back and watching the bedroom door carefully. “Something wrong, mom?”

Christa smiled and leaned over to kiss the top of Annie’s head. “No, sweetie, everything is ok.” Reiner and Bertholdt sat side by side, watching a cartoon. “Did you kids have any homework?”

Annie and Reiner chorused, “No!”

Bertholdt nodded. “We were supposed to do a sheet on multiplication.” His companions glared at the brunette boy. He grinned sheepishly. “But I already finished mine.”

“Annie? Did you do yours?”

The blonde girl flopped down and grumbled, “No...” She shot a glare as Reiner laughed and tossed one of the small throw-pillows at him. “Shut up, you didn’t do yours either!” As the boy started to get up and protest, the doorbell rang and Annie smirked. “I’ll get it!”

She vaulted herself over the couch, leaving Reiner to run around the furniture and scream. As she opened the door to Mrs. Braun and Mrs. Hoover, Annie grinned and began to speak when Reiner bull-rushed the girl. The short, stocky blonde woman gasped. “Reiner! Get off of Annie, you’re too big to do that to her!”

From underneath the blonde boy, Annie coughed and muttered, “I’m fine, Mrs. Braun. Reiner is just being dumb, that’s all.” She pushed up with her arms, getting Reiner to roll off and grunt as his body hit the floor. As she stood, Annie looked down at him and muttered, “I was just gonna answer the door, stupid. It’s called being polite? _Amazing_.”

Reiner scowled at her as he stood up and grabbed his jacket from the low hooks with a huff. “Yeah, yeah...” He slipped his shoes on and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder in an attempt to brush it off. He whimpered when the bag hit his back and he was reminded that his history book was in there also.

Bertholdt followed suit in a much more subdued manner. He smiled brightly at Annie. “See you tomorrow?” Bertholdt had been part of the speech therapy program at their elementary school since kindergarten and, after three years, had improved greatly.

“Yeah, see ya,” Annie said. The mothers waved and hurried their respective sons along, talking amongst each other as the door shut and Annie went back to her own guardians. The little girl looked at Christa and smiled faintly. “What’s for dinner? Can I help?”

Christa grinned and nodded. “C’mon. Meatloaf tonight. I’ll show you how to do it.” Annie ran in behind her mother, eager to cook.

[X]

Thursday at recess saw a rather subdued Mikasa; her eyes were tired and her mouth was set in a thin, grim line. Even when Eren and Armin were close- hugging her or holding her hands- and trying to cheer her up, the Asian girl would only offer a sad smile and mutter a few words.

Annie kept her distance, quietly watching and waiting for Mikasa to make a move. The two girls had a habit of knowing when the other was hurting and just needed space for a bit. They would catch each other’s eyes and the one who wasn’t in pain would simply smile and let the other take time to gather their thoughts. It was the way Annie and Mikasa worked; watch, wait and offer silent comfort. The assured offer of a shoulder to cry on, so to speak.

It was nearly time to line back up- separate lines now that they had different teachers- when Mikasa approached her friend and murmured, “I have to go to see Addie tomorrow after school. Could you go with me?”

Annie blinked; she knew vaguely who Addie was. “Isn’t she like your doctor or something?”

“Sasha calls her my therapist.” Mikasa stared at the ground. “I was hoping you would go with me. Addie said it might make me feel better to know I have a friend there.”

“If you think it’d help, sure,” Annie replied softly. She gently tugged on the scarf around Mikasa’s neck and smirked. “I’ll ask mom. Do you wanna spend the night after that?”

Mikasa smiled. “Marathon the _Sly Cooper_ games?”

The whistle blew and as they lined up, Annie peeked back at Mikasa and nodded. “We’ll see who can pull a better heist.”

[X]

Mikasa’s eyes shot open as she threw the buzzers to the ground, spinning in her seat to see Annie right next to her. She lurched over, wrapping her arms tightly around her friend’s neck and shaking. “I lived. I lived because my mom told me to. I lived.”

Annie sat in stunned silence but immediately wrapped her arms around Mikasa’s waist and held her tight. She glanced over at Addie, Mikasa’s therapist, and watched as she bent and retrieved the buzzers. As she held Mikasa, feeling a wet spot grow on her shoulder from the girl’s crying, Annie simply whispered, “You lived because you’re strong, Mikasa.” After a pause, she added, “I’m glad you lived.”

The woman- Addie, Mikasa’s therapist- spoke in a slow, calm voice. She murmured, “Take a deep breath in. And then breathe out. Calm, safe place, Mikasa. Where is your calm, safe place?” Addie continued to talk the nine-year-old through the exercise and it took a solid ten minutes for Mikasa to stop shaking. Annie simply listened as Mikasa described her calm, safe place. It was a field of tiny white and yellow flowers with clouds floating by overhead. According to Mikasa, it was sunny and warm with a light breeze. It took a moment for Annie to think of the park they had played at late in their kindergarten year.

The two girls sat quietly while Addie simply patted Mikasa’s back and left the room; Annie guessed that she was going to go talk to Sasha in the waiting room. Mikasa sniffled and raised her head, keeping her hands on Annie’s shoulders until she opened her eyes and smiled despite her tears. “I am strong.” She wiped at her eyes and mumbled, “Sorry about your shirt. I got it wet.”

“It’s whatever. I’ll just change when we go to training after this.” She poked Mikasa’s shoulder. “You didn’t forget, did you?”

“Oh,” Mikasa replied, “I guess I did.” While she rubbed her eyes, the nine-year-old said, “I look forward to training tonight.” She grinned. “Think we could get paired up for sparring?”

“Don’t we always?” Annie shoved Mikasa’s shoulder and smirked. “I’ll kick your butt like usual.” The girl stood and took her friend’s hand, guiding her out of the room and down the hallway to the waiting room. Addie and Sasha stood at the front desk, discussing the schedule for Mikasa’s next appointment. Off to the side, Christa waited with her eyes on her phone. “Mom, we’re going to practice after this, right?”

Christa looked up and dropped her phone back into her purse as ruffled Annie’s hair. “Of course. And then we’re getting pizza and heading home.” She tilted her head curiously at the two girls and asked, “Everything ok though?”

“Yeah, everything’s good,” Mikasa replied. She adjusted her scarf and smiled when Sasha came up to them. “Am I riding home with you before training?”

“Well, you’ve already got all your stuff, so you don’t have to.” She bent and hugged Mikasa gently. “I’ll see you when you come home, all right?”

Mikasa let go of Annie’s hand to properly hug Sasha and mumbled against her shoulder. “I’ll see you later. Love you.”

Sasha’s eyes widened as she hugged the girl tighter. “I love you too. Have fun and behave yourself.”

“She always does, Sash,” Christa chimed. She hugged the taller woman when she stood back up and said, “I’m gonna snap a few pics of the girls while they’re sparring.”

Annie said, “It helps us know if we’re doing it right.” She tugged on Christa’s arm lightly. “C’mon, mommy, let’s go! Mikasa and I wanna get paired up for sparring matches!”

Christa gently ushered both girls to the car and grinned back at Sasha. “I’ll send you the pics. It’s gonna be fun.”

[X]

Christa laughed as Mikasa and Annie raced ahead of her, groaning, “You’re too fast for me! I accept defeat!”

Annie reached the car first, hand tagging the trunk as she shot a grin back at her mother. “I win!” She raised her chin proudly when Mikasa ran up next to her and said, “Payback for flipping me in class.”

The Asian girl simply shrugged. “Oh well.” The girls waited until Christa ran up and unlocked the car before they each hopped in. Mikasa glanced at Annie and mumbled, “You still wanna play the _Sly Cooper_ games?” When Annie smirked and nodded, Mikasa grinned and reached across the middle seat to hold Annie’s hand. “Thanks for going to therapy with me. Sometimes it’s a little weird to sit and talk to Addie by myself.”

“She seemed nice but I guess I get what you mean,” Annie replied. “It’s the fact that she’s an adult and they don’t necessarily always take kids seriously.”

Christa stayed quiet on that note, remembering that feeling vividly as she was growing up. “Ok. What kind of pizza do we want, guys?”

“Pepperoni!”

“Ok, pepperoni seems to be the general consensus,” the older blonde laughed quietly. “I think I’m gonna get a buffalo chicken pizza too.” The girls each hummed their agreement on the notion and Christa handed her phone back to Annie. “Call Ymir and tell her we’re on our way to get pizza and then we’ll be home, all right?”

“Ok, mommy.” Annie unlocked Christa’s phone quickly and brought up the call log to see Ymir’s number at the top.

_“Hello?”_

“Hi, Mir. Mom says we’ll be home right after we get a couple pizzas.”

On the other end of the line, Annie heard the background noise of the TV and Ymir laughed. _“All right, lil bit. Thanks. I’ll see ya then.”_

“Ok, Ymir. See you soon.” Annie hung up and sat with the phone in her lap as she said, “Ymir is already home. She’s watching TV.”

“Figures,” Christa sighed. “Thanks, baby.”

Annie grinned brightly. “Not a problem, mom.” She shot a glare Mikasa’s way when she heard her giggling. “Hey, shut up. Doesn’t Sasha call you princess?”

Mikasa blushed. “Shut up!”

Firmly, Christa said, “Girls. Both of you are incredibly sweet and you deserve to be called sweet things. Now, stop it.”

Both nine-year-old girls blushed and mumbled, “Ok...” Annie smiled when she heard the song on the radio and turned her head to her friend when she heard Mikasa singing. “You’re really good.”

Mikasa smiled sheepishly and explained, “Sasha said that she could get classes for me if I really wanted to. But I know that she can’t really afford it. And Connie can’t either.” She ran a hand into her hair and played with the ends, her cheeks lightly flushed. “I forgot that I’ve never sung in front of you.” When she noticed Christa’s eyes on her through the rearview mirror, Mikasa asked, “Is there something wrong, Miss Christa?”

“No, sweetheart, it’s nothing. C’mon, let’s go get that pizza!” After a quick run into the grocery store and a fast trip home, the trio finally made their way up to the apartment building. Christa slipped in first while Annie and Mikasa got their shoes off. “Ymir, honey, we’re home!”

“S’up, babe?” The freckled woman stood from the couch and grinned as the two girls dropped their bags in the entry before running to the TV and stating their wish to play video games. “I’ll sit with you in the kitchen and let the midgets play their game.”

Annie tossed a pillow at Ymir’s back, grumbling, “We’re _nine._ Not midgets.”

“Still shorter than me,” Ymir shot back. She threw the pillow back onto the couch and followed Christa into the kitchen as she got the pizzas ready to bake. “How were your classes today?”

The shorter woman smiled and went to place a kiss to her girlfriend’s cheek. She giggled at the way Ymir so helpfully ducked her head to allow the peck. “Really good. We got to work with animals today. I had this really cute Welsh corgi-”

“Which we are never getting,” Ymir muttered.

“And he was _so_ sweet. Let me examine him with no problems.” She got the pizzas in the oven and sat at the kitchen table, smiling to hear Annie and Mikasa chattering happily in the living room. “Mikasa’s therapy session went really well with Annie there,” she said quietly. As Ymir sat down in the chair next to her, Christa reached for her hand and softly ran her fingers over her girlfriend’s palm. “Then, during their training session, Mikasa only won by one down. They’re both so strong, Ymir. I’m so happy that they’re so close.”

Ymir smiled faintly. “Same here. Lil bit can only be so strong on her own.” She ran the fingers of her free hand through Christa’s hair, asking, “You look a little sad, babe. What’s wrong?”

“Mikasa can sing. But Sasha can’t afford to get her into classes that might help.” Her gaze got a little distant as she said, “I had all the classes, the coaching. And I never _wanted_ it. How is that fair?”

Her girlfriend shrugged and replied, “That’s just the way life is sometimes. But don’t worry about it, Chris. It isn’t your fault and it isn’t Sasha’s fault. Besides, I think Mikasa will be better off without those classes. It was because of all that stuff that you began to hate your ability to sing.” She raised a brow and bucked Christa’s chin with her thumb. “Cheer up. It’s all gonna be fine.” Ymir leaned over and pressed her lips to her girlfriend’s forehead. “Ok. What kinda pizzas did you get? I’m _starved_.”

“Pepperoni and buffalo chicken.” She grinned at the grimace on Ymir’s face. “I don’t know why you hate buffalo chicken so much.”

“It’s so...vinegar-y.” She shuddered. “Ugh.”

In the living room, Mikasa sat with Annie leaning back against her chest and grumbling, “Why do I keep moving forward? I’m not even- oh. It got stuck.” She adjusted her hold on the stick and watched the cutscene play, smiling softly. “How was that?”

Annie huffed. “I could do better.” She tilted her head to grin up at Mikasa and asked, “You ok now?”

Mikasa nodded. “Mhmm.” She set the controller down and rested her chin on top of Annie’s head, mumbling, “I think I’m gonna sleep a little earlier than normal tonight. I’m kind of sleepy.”

“Well. You did cry a lot earlier,” Annie pointed out. “You can mess with my hair, if you want.”

Mikasa brightened at that and said, “Ok. Can I braid it?”

“Isn’t that what messing with my hair generally means?” Annie joked. She sat up and waited while her friend undid her bun. “It might be a little bit knotted from when it fell out at training.”

“Oh, great.” The taller girl started running her fingers into the blonde strands and grimaced when she caught a knot. “Don’t you take care of your hair at all?”

Annie snapped, “Of course I do. I wash it and then put it up.”

“That’s not taking care of it!” Mikasa rolled her eyes and said, “You should wash it and then comb through it and let it _air dry_. Then put it up.”

“But that’s so much work.”

Mikasa gaped. “No, it’s not! Oh my God, Annie, c’mon! Your hair is really pretty and this is the crap you do to it!”

Ymir poked her head out and laughed, “When did you two get married, huh?”

Both girls blushed brightly, exclaiming, “ _We’re not married!”_

“Ymir, leave them alone!” Christa chided.

“Oh, c’mon, I’m just having a little fun!”

Annie griped, “Yeah, right. More like torturing kids.”

“Ugh!” Ymir threw her hands up and groaned, “C’mon, can’t I ever catch a break?”

[X]


	12. Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco and Mina's wedding approaches and Annie asks some important questions.

When Christa told Annie that they had received an invitation to Marco and Mina’s wedding, the last response she was expecting was, “Are you and Ymir ever gonna get married?”

Christa sat back on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. She replied, “Well, maybe one day. We just can’t afford something like that right now.” She forced a laugh and added, “A wedding is kind of expensive.”

Annie’s brows furrowed as she grumbled, “Well, that’s stupid. You’re in love.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Christa giggled. She stood and went to pull the nine-year-old into her arms. “If only the world could be so simple. Everything would be so much better that way, huh?” She kissed the top of Annie’s head and asked, “Do you want to go shopping for something to wear to the wedding?”

“What am I supposed to wear?”

“Well,” her mother began, “I’m going to be wearing a dress. And I’m going to be one of Mina’s bridesmaids. Ymir, doubtlessly, is going to wear a suit.” Christa tapped her chin with one finger and tilted her head, looking curiously at Annie. “You could wear either a dress or a suit.”

“Can I choose after I’ve seen what you and Ymir get?” Annie inquired. She grinned when Christa nodded and she then felt her cheeks warm a little. “Do you think Mikasa will be there?”

“Probably,” the older female replied, “since Connie and Sasha also got invited.” She smiled and ruffled Annie’s hair. “It’ll be fun, sweetheart. Maybe a little bit boring during the ceremony but the reception will be great.”

Annie leaned back against her mother and mumbled, “So, if you have a wedding with Ymir, what’ll it be like? Are you going to wear a really pretty dress? What kinda ring would you get?”

Christa laughed, “I’m not sure what it’ll be like just yet. I will, however, wear a very pretty dress. And I’m sure that Ymir has a really good idea of what kind of ring she’s going to get me.” She kissed the top of Annie’s head, wrapping her arms around the young girl’s shoulders. “Technically speaking, Ymir and I could get married at the courthouse but we wouldn’t be able to afford a wedding.”

“Wait, so you can get married but not have a wedding?” Annie’s voice rose with curiosity. “So you don’t need one to have the other?”

“Well, most people get the documentation of their marriage and then have the wedding the next day. It’s just a big ceremony for your friends and family to go to and celebrate your marriage and the life you’re going to build with your spouse.” Christa shook her head. “It’s a little silly, really.”

The nine-year-old nodded. “All right.” She paused and looked at her mother. “I hope you and Ymir can get married. And have a wedding. I think Ymir loves you a lot.” Annie waited a beat and added, “Even if she’s kind of a butt.”

“Hey, hey, hey, who’re you callin’ a butt, lil bit?” Ymir set her work boots down in the entry before walking up and reaching over the back of the couch to ruffle Annie’s hair. She then turned to Christa, grinned, and leaned in for a kiss. “Hey, babe.”

“Hey, how was work?” Christa chimed.

Ymir walked around to the front of the couch and plopped down at the other end, mindful of Annie’s feet. “It was all right. The same old, same old. She grinned. “I got to teach the newbie how to use the forklift.”

“Oh my God, Ymir, you didn’t pretend to chase this one around the warehouse, did you?” When the freckled woman simply bit her lip and looked away, Christa gasped, “ _Ymir!_ ”

“What? I was just having a little fun! Besides, Levi works nights and he’ll never know what the fuck I did.”

“Unless the newbie reports you.”

Ymir waved her hand dismissively, huffing, “Yeah, sure, the kid thought it was fun. He was laughing.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I took off a couple days for the wedding, so we don’t have to worry about leaving early and getting home to bed.”

Annie’s eyes widened as she whispered in bewilderment, “How late can weddings last?”

“Depends on the couple and their wedding guests. However, since it _is_ Mina and Marco, I’m guessing that it’ll end at a decent hour.” When Christa snorted, her girlfriend asked, “What?”

“Mina likes to party, whether you believe it or not. If she has anything to do with it, it’ll last until at least two in the morning.” Despite not hearing any sound from Annie, Christa could almost sense the awe and added, “You, however, will not be staying up that late.”

“Aw, mom-”

Christa shook her head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but you’ll probably be exhausted by then. We’ll probably leave around midnight and sleep late that day.”

Annie crossed her arms but sighed, “Well, midnight is better than nothing.”

“Damn right, lil bit.”

[X]

Ymir stepped out of the dressing room, buttoning her vest and adjusting it over the pale blue button-up. “Well? Do I look good or do I look _fuckin’_ good?”

“You look fantastic but you need to wear a blazer during the ceremony,” Christa replied. Beside her, Annie looked appraisingly at Ymir, head tilted and arms crossed. After a moment, she lightly tugged on her mother’s sleeve. Christa turned to the nine-year-old and questioned, “What is it, Annie?”

“I wanna wear a suit,” Annie retorted firmly.

Christa smiled warmly. “All right, let’s get you a suit.”

Ymir threw her arms up as she spun back around to the dressing room, hooting, “Hell yeah, suits!”

While Ymir changed, Annie whispered to Christa, “Ymir is weird.”

“I know,” Christa whispered back, “but she’s a wonderful kind of weird.” When Ymir stepped back out with the pieces of her suit back on the hangers, her girlfriend grinned and stood. “All right, let’s go!”

Being in the department store was far from enjoyable, from Annie’s standpoint. There were a lot of people, there were tons of clothes- mostly women’s clothing and Annie couldn’t fathom how it could possibly look good or cost so much when there was so little fabric to it. She held tightly to Christa’s hand until they reached the boys’ section. In mild confusion, the girl looked up at the older female and asked, “Why are we in the boys’ clothes?”

Christa blinked. “Well, suits are considered to be male clothing. It’s just the societal norm.”

“But girls can wear suits. And boys can wear dresses, right? So why do there need to be different clothes?” Annie paused. “Why do we even say whether clothes are boys or girls? It’s just something you put on.”

Ymir mumbled, “And here we go; lil bit is asking the important questions and realizing that society is stupid.”

With a heavy sigh, the older blonde led Annie into the section and towards the racks containing button-up shirts and pants. “I know it’s stupid, Annie, but not everyone is quite ready to just accept stuff like that just yet.” Annie grunted quietly but went along with her mother, looking through the various clothes. Eventually, Annie settled on what she wanted and Christa led her over to the dressing room. “When you get it on, come out and let us see how it looks. We just need to make sure it fits ok.”

“Ok,” Annie replied. She pulled the button-up on, fumbling slightly with the small buttons and making sure it was buttoned properly. The pants were slightly loose but she stepped out, looking down at herself and mumbling, “I don’t know if this looks ok.”

Christa knelt and started tucking the shirt into Annie’s slacks while Ymir crossed her arms and grinned. “All you need is a vest, lil bit. And some nice shoes.” When Annie’s shirt was tucked in, Ymir also took a knee and started to roll the sleeves of the shirt. “There we go.” She turned Annie to look in the mirror on the opposite wall and pointed. “Awesome, right?”

Annie looked from the mirror to herself and back to the mirror with a growing smile. “I really look good.” Turning to look at Christa, Annie asked, “Can I get this?” She blushed when the woman leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“Of course you can, sweetheart,” Christa replied softly. After Annie got changed back into her street clothes and they paid, Ymir picked up the nine-year-old while Christa carried the two suits. “Ok, who’s excited for Friday?”

Annie leaned away from Ymir’s shoulder and chirped, “Me.”

“Same,” Ymir retorted.

“I’m just happy that it’s summer,” Annie grumbled. She dropped her head back to her guardian’s shoulder and sighed. “But school starts up again in a month.”

“But you’re going to be starting fourth grade, sweetie,” Christa reminded. “Isn’t that good?”

“Yeah, I guess...”

[X]

The ceremony, as Annie would put it, had been very long and very boring. Beside Annie, Ymir sat, attempting to stifle yawns. They sat in the third row with Mina’s family, listening as the wedding procession passed and the vows were said. As Marco was putting the ring on Mina’s finger, Annie tugged on the sleeve of Ymir’s blazer and whispered, “Is it almost over?”

Ymir ducked her head as she whispered back, “Yeah, Mina just has to give Marco a ring and then they can kiss. And after they walk back down the aisle together, we get to go to the reception.”

Annie muttered, “Good ‘cause this is really boring...” Applause went up as Marco and Mina kissed and Annie watched as each one of them looked on the verge of tears. She cocked her head as she saw them kiss again before holding hands as they ran down the aisle. Everyone stood as they passed, clapping for the newlyweds. It was after the rest of the wedding procession passed again that Annie was picked up by Ymir and they followed the crowd outside.

Christa met them by their car with a smile, giggling, “They both looked so happy, it was great.” She leaned up to kiss Annie’s cheek and then give Ymir a kiss on the lips. “All right, we ready to go to the reception? I bet both of you are starving.”

“Yes,” they replied in unison. It was a short drive to the reception hall and as soon as they arrived, Christa managed to get into the front part of the growing line to get food. Ymir found the table they were set for and grinned upon seeing Connie and Mikasa already at the table. “Well, at least I know I won’t be bored.”

Connie smiled and got to his feet, extending his arm for a handshake. “Hey, Ymir, what’s up?”

“Oh, you know, struggling not to fall asleep, starving to death,” the woman replied, “the usual that comes with sitting through a wedding.” They both laughed and sat down, allowing the two nine-year-olds to sit beside one another. “Seriously though, I’m glad they got married. Maybe now Marco will fucking shut up about how much he wants to be with Mina.”

“You know that won’t happen,” Connie retorted.

As Ymir and Connie talked, Annie turned to Mikasa and whispered, “Nice dress.”

Mikasa smiled. “Nice suit. The blue really brings out your eyes.” Her smile grew when Annie blushed a little. “How late are your parents planning on staying?”

“Midnight,” Annie grumbled. She looked at Mikasa curiously. “Yours?”

“Same.” They both looked up when Sasha and Christa returned with a couple plates of food. Mikasa smiled softly up at the older brunette and mumbled, “Thank you.”

Sasha grinned and kissed the top of Mikasa’s head and replied, “You’re welcome, princess.” She turned to Connie who was already starting to ear and said, “Connie, you told my dad that we’d be out of town for the wedding, right?” This allowed her to miss the way Annie smirked at a blushing Mikasa.

Connie’s eyes widened slightly and he replied around a mouth full of food, “Nomf?”

“Hey, Sash, do you want me to call him?” Christa offered.

“No, it’s ok, I’ve got it,” Sasha responded. She grabbed her phone from her purse and poked Connie’s cheek before walking off and stepping outside of the reception hall for some quiet.

[X]

The reception truly got underway after Marco and Mina had their first dance. After they cut the cake and smeared it across each other’s face, they went and cleaned up while everyone else was getting more food and dancing. Mikasa and Annie sat and played on Christa’s phone with rather frustrating results at _Angry Birds_ , each one of them making faces at the screen and laughing at the one playing. A little while after that, Mikasa asked, “Bored yet?”

“Very,” Annie muttered. She glanced at Mikasa and whispered, “I think my legs are falling asleep.”

The taller girl waited for a couple seconds before inquiring, “You wanna dance?”

Annie’s eyes widened and she replied, “I dunno how to dance.” She set Christa’s phone back in her purse and followed when Mikasa tugged on her hand. “This won’t be embarrassing, will it?”

“No,” Mikasa retorted. She stopped, turned, and faced Annie, resting her arms over Annie’s shoulders. “Put your hands on my sides. Connie and Sasha dance like this.”

Putting her hands on Mikasa’s hips, Annie blushed and looked back up at the other girl. “Like this?” Mikasa nodded and they started to gently sway; they stood on the outskirts of the dance floor while several of the adults slow-danced. She stared at the ground and watched their feet, feeling somewhat sheepish. “Do you think we’ll be in separate classes again?”

“Dunno,” she replied quietly. “I’ve been in the same class with Eren and Armin for a couple years. Eren is very...loud. And rough.” She added, “He’s really nice though.”

“I don’t like him much,” Annie said. She looked back up at Mikasa and wrapped her arms around her properly, pulling her into a hug. They continued to sway slightly as Mikasa tightened her arms around Annie and yawned. Annie whispered, “You like Sasha and Connie?”

“They’re great,” Mikasa mumbled back. They stayed quiet for a time until the song ended and then walked back to the table. As Annie settled back in her seat, Mikasa rubbed her eyes and muttered, “I’m getting tired.” She smiled when Annie yawned also and she scooted her chair closer. Mikasa hopped up and leaned over, resting her head on Annie’s shoulder. “We still have our Muay Thai classes. You going on Monday?”

Annie mumbled sleepily in the affirmative. “I’m gonna kick your butt.”

“I’m gonna kick yours,” the taller girl replied softly.

Christa came up and kissed each girl on the top of the head. “Hey, it’s just about midnight, girls. C’mon,” she urged softly. She picked up Annie while Connie retrieved Mikasa. The girls let go of one another’s hands and waved tiredly to each other. Annie yawned, hiding her face against Christa’s shoulder. “Did you have fun, baby?”

“Mikasa danced with me,” Annie mumbled.

“That’s great, Annie. Let’s go grab Ymir and head home. You look worn out.” Finding Ymir with Marco and Mina, Christa kissed Mina on the cheek and said, “Congrats, guys. Ymir and I are gonna head home. Annie is sleepy.” She turned to Ymir. “You’re driving, right?”

“I’m the designated driver, babe, don’t worry. I’m stone cold sober.” Ymir held Christa’s free hand as they walked to the car, questioning, “So how much wine did you actually drink?”

“I only had two glasses, don’t worry.” She smiled up at her girlfriend. “That was wonderful.”

“If you say so,” Ymir muttered, “my ass was falling asleep though.”

“ _Ymir_.”

“What? I’m just being honest. Me and lil bit ended up playing solitaire on my phone during the ceremony.”

[X]


End file.
